My Candy
by I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I
Summary: AU - When you are too stubborn to admit something, there's always friends in which to count on... even if their help is rather irritating and awkward, they'll make sure that you admit it. Whatever it takes.
1. Gray: Rumors

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.**

**I do own the idea for the fic though.**

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><p><strong>My candy.<strong>

_(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fan-fiction story.)_

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Rumors.<strong>

'So, another year went by already, huh?' He thought uninterested as he stared at the sky through the window of the classroom, paying little attention to the teacher that was talking about the upcoming exams and themes of his subject that were of interest; though, his mind was somewhere else, remembering the fact that these important exams were the last ones of his high school life before graduating and going to college. 'How boring…'

"Natsu, pay attention, this is important…" Said someone behind the pink-haired boy, making him look over his shoulder to see the speaker, the blue haired man only motioned with his head at the teacher; earning a grunt from the boy.

"I already know what to study…" His eyes went back to the sky outside, ignoring his classmate's constant tries to make him pay attention to the teacher that ended up in him being scolded.

"Jellal-san, please refrain from talking while I'm explaining something that your classmates don't know." The blue-haired man called Jellal looked down in embarrassment and nodded quietly, Natsu frown, he raise his hand midway and called for the teacher. "Yes, Natsu-san?"

"It's my fault, my friend here just wanted me to pay attention; I'll take the blame for him." The teacher looked at him quizzically before nodding and telling him to then listen to his partner's advice in hearing the lecture. Natsu nodded, crossed his arms and lean back on his chair, his eyes staring vacantly at the teacher and the blackboard. He felt someone tapping his shoulder and tilting his head to the side, he found a hand stretched out with a neatly-folded paper in it. He grabbed it and unfolded it, reading its content with careful eyes on the teacher.

'Thanks Natsu, I'm in debt to you, now: Pay attention!' And three laughing signs, the young man sweatdropped, folding back the paper as it was delivered and saving it in his shirt pocket, he did as told and listened to the boring lecture. If there was something that he hated was when his friends got in troubles because of him, so as to avoid further troubles for Jellal, he would listen to him this one-time and pay attention to the rather monotone talk of their teacher.

"Hey, flame-brain…" He heard a hushed voice calling his attention, looking from the corner of his eyes to the right, he found a young man with black jet hair waving a hand at him while trying to cover his head with the back of their classmate and a raise book. "You okay?"

The boy just shrugged and answered in an equal hushed voice. "Just bored, Gray…"

"Want to hang-out with us after class?" He motioned to the group sitting around him; the three guys gave their personal greetings either by nodding, waving a hand or acknowledging him with the eyes. Natsu was going to shook his head and decline the offer but stopped, thinking about it, he could spent some time with them to end the boredom or try to at least; he nodded and was greeted with smiles and nods of approval, Gray giving him a thumb up and a smirk before pretending to listen to the class.

The pink-haired sighed tiredly, his head slowly turning to see the sky again only to feel something like a pencil pocking him on the shoulder, he felt a smile fighting his way to his lips; Jellal was an annoying friend most of the time… but a good-intentioned annoying friend.

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><p>The bell rang, everyone stood up from their seats, walking to the exit of the classroom or going to chat with their friends, but Natsu sat still on his seat; watching everything happen around him until Gray and the guys came to stand next to him. "Ready to go?"<p>

"Yeah, let's go…" He rise from his seat with the help of his arm and followed the others but, at the door he remembered, tilting his head to the seat behind his; he called out to the blue-haired man. "Hey Jellal, wanna come with us?"

Said boy only shook his head, gesturing with a finger the papers that were on top of his table; 'Oh, right,' Natsu thought while nodding at him. 'He has that student council meeting.'

"Good luck…" He said waving his hand before following Gray and his friends down the corridor, listening to their idle chat and looking at the floor as they headed outside the building, to the courtyard. Coming to a stop under one of the trees, the group sat under its shadow before relaxing and entering more interesting topics of discussion. "So… anything interesting happened?"

"Not that I know, everything is as boring as always…" Jet, one of Gray's close friends said, before lying on the grass completely with hands behind his head; the pink-haired raise a questioning eyebrow at him, what was the purpose of hanging out with them if they were in the same situation as him?

"Oh, but I heard something interesting from my sister..." Elfman, as his friends called him, said to them with a proud smile and crossed arms, calling the attention of Natsu and the other guys. He knew something interesting! That meant that the boredom would come to an end! "It seems that the student council president has a crush on a student…" Natsu perked up his ears at hearing this. "Some say that is someone from our class…"

"It must be Jellal, I can't think of anyone else in whom she would be interested…" Alzack, an exchange student from the west, concluded sadly, his partners sighing in defeat and disappointment. But their new addition had other reaction, grunting in response at the words meanwhile his mind thought furiously about it so much that his grunt almost came as a growl; that Gray noticed.

"It's to be expected, she'll surely fall in love with someone like him…" Gray said provokingly, his eyes studying the reaction of the guy next to him, watching amused how he tried to avoid giving any signs of caring about the subject at all.

"You think? I always thought that she was looking for someone opposite to her…" His patience was running out, he was already grabbing some grass with his hands and tearing them out of the ground; Gray smirked before continuing with his taunts, silently thanking that his friends were helping him even if unconsciously.

"Seems like we were all wrong; hell! The only thing I can think of right now is how pitiful those that had feelings for her are now felling…" A growl was heard and all eyes turned to look at Natsu, he was just staring innocently at them, not a sign of being the source of the past sound being present on his face. He only shrugged nonchalantly, making the others return to their previous points of interest before sighing in relief; but Gray noticed it as he was keeping a constant watch over the pink-haired at the same time he tried to hold back his laughter.

"I wouldn't put it so… crudely but that's true, many guys felt something for that woman…" Jet said rather uncomfortable at his words, hearing another growl from the pink-hair's direction.

"It's manly of Jellal to date the Council President! Behind every great man is a great woman!" Elfman yelled to the top of his lungs, calling the attention of nearby students and surprising his friends that were close to him, even if they were already aware of the guy's constant yelling of how manly some things were… but Natsu wasn't, and he made that clear when he stood from the ground and marched towards the white spiky haired man, whom looked at him questioningly before being grabbed by the collar of his uniform. His surprised eyes coming to meet face to face with the irritated eyes of the guy that joined them that day for mere chance, he was going to ask what was wrong but the narrowing of the other's eyes make him shut his mouth for all that he held dear.

"Listen big guy, shut your mouth and never mention something like that ever again, or you'll know why Phantom High is always after me." He whispered dangerously to the now trembling Elfman before releasing him and stomping back to the school building; Gray's eyes following closely with some mirth at the previous incident.

'Now it's Lucy's turn…' He thought while chuckling lightly and going to check on his almost-crying friend.

**To be continued**

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><p><strong>New story! Yay! Hahaha! xD<strong>

**Do not worry my friends, this one is shorter than "Knowing it..." so it doesn't occupy much of my time from the other projects.**

**I believe that It'll have close to 8 chapter and that's it, each of them depicting how Natsu's circle of friends help him to admit his feelings towards certain person and how he finally does it... in a way that I already have planned. Kekeke! xD**

**Each chapter will have the name of the person helping him first and later the name of the chapter, as to let you know who did it without you trying to guess. XDDD  
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**Enjoy this chapter, I'll bring the next one in a few days, after updating "Scarlet Flame..." and "Knowing it..." again. ^^**

**R&R! =D  
><strong>

**Saludos.  
><strong>


	2. Lucy: Facts

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.**

**I do own the idea for the fic though.**

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><p><strong>My candy.<strong>

_(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fan-fiction story.)_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2: Facts.<strong>

'Idiot! Who the hell sends him to say such things! ?' Thought furiously a young man, walking through the corridors of the school with his hands inside his pockets, not caring about the stares he received at the obvious anger he had for an innocent comment. Looking ahead, not looking back, disregarding the calls for him to stop made by those who knew him, he continued down the hallway until he reached the doors to his classroom; sliding the door to a side, he entered without checking if the way was clear, almost clashing with a blonde haired girl that happened to be going outside.

"Natsu!" She said stopping herself from colliding against him by sidestepping to the left, the mentioned boy just stood still on his spot and looked at her weirdly before remembering that he was angry and continuing his march to his desk. The girl watched him walk pass her with some surprise but she later changed to look at him quizzically, wondering what was wrong with him, she followed him and sat in Gray's place as if it was hers; staring at her fuming friend for a while before trying to question him about what was bothering him. "So, what's on your mind?"

"Nothing, go away." Was the quick and harsh reply while he crossed his arms over the table and sunk his head in the middle, she shivered at the cold undertone but remained in her spot, leaning on her hand while she waited for him to say something else. As always, she didn't need to pressure the man to get answers, he came around when he understood that he needed to release what was bothering him to have some ease of mind… and to get her off of his back. Growling tiredly, he tilted his head to look at her and frown irritated, catching what she was thinking. "I'm not going to tell you this time, Luce, it is personal."

"Well, when you lost your cat it was personal, when Clive-sensei punished you for being late it was personal, when you lost a fight with Gray it was personal, when Jellal told you to do your homework it was personal and when I told you that the color of your cat was weird it was personal…" She mentioned nonchalantly, her free hand moving in front of her face in a close fist that release a finger at the mention of the times he said something similar, when she finished, she moved her head to a side and used her previously free hand to support it; troubled eyes staring at the pink-haired that could only hide his face in reply. She sighed tiredly. "Come on Natsu, what is it this time?"

"This time is for real; I'm not lying or overreacting…" She managed to discern in between muffled sounds, she shook her head; he couldn't be that stubborn, right?

Looking around out of boredom, she found that they were the only two inside the room; 'Good,' she thought 'Then I can talk about this with him… That Gray better be right…' Gazing back at the now moping pink-haired, Lucy poked his shoulder and called for his attention in other matter. "Hey Natsu…"

"Huh?" He moved his head to face her, a more calm expression now that some time passed since the incident in the courtyard, he grunted to make her talk fast though; still a little edgy to talk to. "What?"

"Tell me Natsu, did you ever felt something special for someone?" He raise an eyebrow at the question, she blushed a little and started to doubt about going further with what Gray told her to do. She still couldn't get it, how did she get involve into this? Ah, yes, she was there with the others by a matter of chance and got stuck in the middle against her will. Damn Gray. She will make sure to teach him a lesson when the opportunity presents itself. But going back with the pink-haired in front of her, she looked to a side and swallowed a lump in her throat before looking back with a determinate face that completely took Natsu by surprise. "Did you or did you not?"

"I…" He managed to start rather quickly, his mouth shutting when he realize what he was about to say, the blonde frown again and this time she didn't waste the opportunity to bump the guy on the head. Natsu grunted in pain at the action and looked at the girl with no trace of humor in his eyes. Her frown deepened and her question came back again, making the boy shook his head in anticipated regret for telling her. "I did, yeah, so what?"

She smiled triumphantly at the answer; she was getting farther than anyone else in just a few minutes. "So? That's great! For who?"

He looked down in sorrow, changing the girl's expression completely. "For… Lisanna…"

She might have be wrong in asking that question; waving her arms around in panic, she tried to make him forget about that to go back to the original track. "I! I know! But what I meant is, if you ever felt something special for someone besides her!"

The boy looked at her for a moment before nodding, his eyes staring at her with no emotion while he thought of an answer. "Well… for you too…"

A blush, a slap on the face and the question repeating; Lucy crossed her arms and looked to a side, mumbling incoherencies while she waited for Natsu to answer her.

"O-okay… there's someone else…" Nervously at first and serious at the end, Lucy turned to look at him quizzically to hear his answer; that she was expecting it to be the final. "Maybe… for the student's president…?"

Yes! That was what she wanted to hear! Stopping herself from grinning or jumping in victory, Lucy only nodded and urged him to continue.

"I don't know… it started after a time I got to talk to her… she's… so…"

'Say it! Say it! Say it!' She thought furiously, expecting him to come out of his deep thinking to give her a clear answer.

"So…" 'Beautiful!' "…Scary…" Lucy looked at the boy dumbly before bumping him on the head again. Natsu just flinched at the hit and looked at the blonde student with total cluelessness. "What's wrong?"

"I don't mean _special_ in that way! I mean…! I mean!" She blushed terribly at what she was going to say, the boy leaning closer to hear her right. "I mean something like love!"

Natsu Dragneel looked at her expressively for 1… 2… 3…

"Hahahaha!" And burst out in a laughing fit in front of an embarrass girl. Stopping for short times, he managed to say. "Why would I feel that way for her?"

Lucy's eyes glinted in devious revenge at the opportunity laid down in front of her, quickly regaining her posture to make a victorious come back. "Well, the fact that you stare at her from a far when she's close, that you mutter her name sometimes in class and that you get angry when you hear that someone might be interest in her or the other way around… doesn't that ring you any bells?"

The boy shut his mouth. Staring at the girl with a frown again before going back to his original position, his head buried in between his arms. The girl's triumphal expression dropping completely.

"Natsu…" She said shocking him lightly on the shoulders, not getting any attention. Sigh and arms crossing. "Natsu, if you feel something for her, why don't you tell her?"

The boy shook his head, mumbling something that thanks to his arms was not able to be heard by his female friend right.

"What? Talk to me straight!" She bumped him on the head again, earning another painful groan from him and his positive response in talking to her face to face. "Tell me, I won't tell anyone…" 'That doesn't already know about it that is…'

"Okay… I might; might!, have feelings for her that are near to what you said… but I'll not tell her!" She frowned and dropped her shoulders in surrender, that wasn't the answer she was expecting.

"But why? Why would you not tell her?" Natsu looked troubled at her and the door that lead to the hallway…. Before turning his face to look at the seat behind his; oh, now Lucy understood. "Is it because of that rumor about she being interested in Jellal?"

He could only nod at her question. Another sign and arms going to support and pat the back of the poor guy, Lucy understood what he was going through, if her experience with that Phantom High girl with HER Gray was something to base on.

"Come on Natsu, don't let some stupid rumors stop you from getting what it could be the love of your life, go and tell her," The moping boy looked at her with his still troubled eyes, almost making her lost her train of thought. "If you don't, then you'll regret it for the rest of your life!"

That seemed to make him come out of his depressed state, thinking hard about it, it wasn't such a big deal. Just tell her and if she was seriously interested in Jellal, he would hear it straight from her, instead of his mind replaying what his imagination created of said moment. It was an all-in move but one that deserved the chance to be made. Natsu nodded at her and stood up from his seat, marching to the door with a determinate face that almost made the blonde squeal like a fan-girl… but the bell rang again, signaling all students that the time to come back to the classroom was now…

Natsu came back to his seat, dragging his feet, his arms and head dropped in a defeated fashion; the blonde could only support him again while patting his back in comfort.

He was seriously unlucky on this subject.

**To be continued**

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><p><strong>New chapter, enjoy it.<strong>

**Yeah, I'm not talkative today, I need to go to bed because my friend's birthday is in six hours and got I stuck here to update this story... and to talk with a good friend of mine. ^^**

**Don't misunderstand me, I'm glad of updating this story... is just that it drives me crazy the fact that I can only write without a single problem when it's past 5am in the morning... Dx**

**Rambling. Thanks for keeping me awake **_NxE-Forever_**, and for that, this chapter goes dedicated to you. ^^**

**I'll update 'Knowing it...' tomorrow, a bonus chapter and the continuation of the story! So be grateful you worms! Hahahaha! XDDDD**

**'Scarlet Flame...'? Well... writing about something like 'Love' is kinda complicated... So the chapter keeps getting longer and longer to explain it right, so that way people don't throw things at me for taking so long to give them a mediocre chapter... ^^v  
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**Next chapter of 'My Candy'...? well, I haven't come with a title for it... but it'll be something along the lines of: **_Advices_**.**

**With someone that you would not be able to believe as the one giving them to Natsu... xDDD  
><strong>

**Saludos.  
><strong>


	3. Lyon: Advices

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.**

**I do own the idea for the fic though.**

* * *

><p><strong>My candy.<strong>

_(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fan-fiction story.)_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: Advices.<strong>

The last period flew like the wind for Natsu, the poor guy was hollowly sitting on his chair with his eyes staring vacantly at the blackboard and every three or four minutes he released a sigh, letting his friends know that he was not okay at all, not one bit. Gray looked at Natsu and the looked at Lucy, the blonde girl only shrugging when he gave her a look of wonder about what happened with his friend; he would later find out the reason and both him and the girl would end up… well, that would be spoiling the story, right?

The bell rang; everyone stood up from their seats orderly, packed their stuff and left the room, leaving just three people behind; two concerned friends and one depressed pink-haired boy. Lucy sighed sympathetically, telling the boy next to her what happened earlier that left their friend in such state, Gray titled his head to the side in annoyance as he crossed his arms in front of him when looking at the boy mopping in front of him with a scowl. "Come on Natsu! It's not the end of the world, go out before you lose another chance and tell her…"

"...Don't wanna…" Was his only answer before standing up and marching to the door past his friends, leaving his stuff behind on the table and his friends exchanging looks of concern before following the boy with his and their things through the halls until they reached the front gate of the school; Gray stopped his friend from going any further by a putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Natsu, it took us a year to make you at least notice it and now you're chicken out?" Natsu didn't look back at his friends, only shrugged his shoulder off and continue to walk out of the school grounds, not before snatching his things from the dark-haired boy's hands. "Hey!"

And the shouts, insults and hand signs were completely ignored, Natsu kept on walking down the road to his home with his depressed aura making people avoid him while looking him weirdly, thing that didn't mattered to him, too much centered on his own thoughts that he fail to notice a small group of people tailing him since he left the school. "Hey! Pinky! What're you doing alone?"

It didn't take the boy long to get out of his depressed state to turn and face the group approaching him with an angry growl that scared some of them… but the tall man standing in the middle, who just smirked at the action and got two steps closer to the boy, disregarding the small calls from his associates to forget about it and leave before something happened. Something bad.

"Oe, Natsu, taking a walk?" The tall man had dark spiky long hair that reached to his waist, much to everyone-who-looked-at-him's surprise, red eyes and piercing all over his body. He was wearing a simple black shirt with its long sleeves ripped, white cargo pants and black combat boots. He smirked when the boy in front of him growled again, dropping his books that fell on the ground and prepared to face him and his friends. "Oh? Why so aggressive? I'm here to talk…"

"Yeah right, like I would believe something like that, Gajeel!" Though, Natsu could tell from his voice that the man wasn't lying, that and his arms crossed when he was ready to counter whatever move he come up with were things that made the Fairy High student relax and listen to the other man. The tall man, now known as Gajeel, nodded at him and looked over his shoulder, calling for his friends to leave him alone… only that he found himself looking at his friends beaten up and passed out on the ground by the hands of one single person. Gajeel's mouth hit the ground, Natsu's eyebrow raise to the sky and the boy just frown at the first one with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"I suggest that you leave my friend alone before I pass judgment to you as I previously did with your lackeys…" The arrival was another boy of the same age as Natsu, he had bluish silver hair, most of whose spiky strands jut upwards on top of his head, except for some which are kept pointing down and partially cover the upper left part of his face. His eyes were slanted, with dark round pupils and surrounded by similarly dark lines, and he had small, linear dark eyebrows. He was wearing an unbuttoned black polo shirt, light blue jeans and black sandals; he had his hands in his pockets and was standing defiantly over the back of one of Gajeel's friends.

"Tsk… You… whatever, I was trying to give this idiot a hand, I'm outta here…" And as soon as that was said, he took his leave, leaving the guys that came with him behind and knocked out before the unsurprised eyes of Natsu and his supposed savior, that was now walking calmly towards him with a more relax expression.

"Are you alright, Natsu?" The boy shrugged, making the other laugh at his answer. "What were you doing? Talking a walk...? Or going to a date?"

"Shut up Lyon…" He turned around and started to walk away from the place with his previous mood coming back, which caught the Lamia High student's attention and thus, made him follow him. The pink-haired growled in annoyance. "Stop following me…"

"No, I will not stop unless you tell me what's up with that long face of yours…" And with Natsu just ignoring that comment, the two continued to walk together for almost an hour, because Natsu wanted to make the man lose his patient… such was his luck that he didn't knew Lyon enough to know that he was perseverant. They were nearing the park close to the pink-haired boy's house when the other boy talked again. "Are you going to tell me now?"

"No! And why should I? Is not like you and I are that close, right?" Which was certainly correct, even if they both hanged out occasionally, they didn't talked much to each other. Because Lyon was quiet most of the time or just sat to watch the brawls that always arise in between Gray and Natsu, he rarely participated, mostly because he ignored Natsu's taunts while he paid more attention to Gray's. Nodding in response, Natsu raise his arms in victory, turned to walk away again… and again, Lyon followed him… much to his chagrin. "I'm about to lose it, you know?"

"I know, but you're no making any good attempts to get me off your back, Natsu..." He remarked, much to the other's increasing anger, that disappeared almost completely when the boy realized that Lyon was right… or close to. Signaling him to follow him, both boys entered the park and sat on one of the many benches close to the fountain in the middle of the place, Natsu dropping and sprawling his body over the bench while Lyon just sat normally, inclining his torso forward to support his head with hands. "Start."

"Start? Am I a music-player or something?" He questioned half-jokingly, only getting an impatient grunt as an answer, he sweatdropped. "O-okay…! It… it's because of a girl…"

"Hah! I knew it!" Lyon shouted in victory at seen his speculations being right, pointing a finger to Natsu he nodded and urged him to continue. "Who is it? Lucy?"

"W-what? No! Of course not!"

"Then that white-haired woman… how was she called? Mirajane?" Natsu shook his head in dry amusement before cutting Lyon and his next guess.

"Is the… the… well… you'll think I'm stupid…" The silver-haired man chuckled before dismissing his worries with a wave of his hand, this give some ease to the pink-haired but he still struggled to find the words to say it. "It's… the student council's president."

Lyon's eyes widened in surprise, a whistle being his only reaction to Natsu's answer, he encouraged him to continue further.

"I don't know, I just…"

"Love her?" Natsu almost choked with his own saliva, moving his arms frantically in front of him he denied that, making the boy sitting next to him chuckled again. "Then?"

"I'm telling you, I don't know, I just talked to her once and then… then I started to think about her and some other stuff…" Lyon arched an eyebrow at the last word.

"Stuff? Like…?" The pink-haired boy's cheeks tinted with a small pink, a hand going to scratch the back of his head in nervousness.

"For what my friends told me and I didn't realize, I say her name sometimes, look at her when she's close and get jealous when I hear that someone might be interested in her or the other way around…"

"Sounds deep, sure it's not love?" Lyon asked before laughing at the boy's second outburst. "Okay, not love, but it's obvious that you're interested in her… did you tried to talk to her again?"

Natsu shook his head in response; the silver-haired sighed and lean on the bench to look at the sky with his hands behind his head.

"You should as to clear your doubts; it might be just some random crush, Natsu." Said boy nodded at the words, looking at the ground in deep thinking. "Did you felt something like this for another girl?"

"Well, yeah, but…" He avoided telling him the deal with Lisanna, the short time they shared before she passed away and went on. "It wasn't like this, maybe 'cause it was three years ago…"

Lyon nodded. "Then that was the random crush and this is the real deal."

"Maybe…" Natsu muttered softly before leaning back on the bench to stare at the sky in a similar fashion to the boy next to him.

"Maybe, maybe not, all you can do now is talk to her again and clear your doubts," Lyon stood up from his seat and looked back at Natsu with a small smile. "If you want a word of advice, then that's it, go and talk to her. If you feel weird or anything of the sort, it might be…"

"Don't say it." Natsu cut him off, earning another laugh from the silver-haired.

"Okay, I won't, but do as I tell you and you'll get your answer." He walked away from the place in a hurry, leaving Natsu alone without even bothering to say good bye or anything else.

'Surely he was the one with a date...' The pink-haired thought while sweatdropping, smiling appreciatively at the thought of the guy leaving aside his own agenda to help him out. Natsu stared at his retreating form for a moment before looking back at the sky, thinking about what they talk before standing up too and heading home, a frown settling on his face when his house came into view.

'Talk to her… that sounds easier that what it is…'

**To be continued**

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><p><strong>So what do you think?<strong>

**I bet you didn't expected Lyon to be the one I was talking about! XD**

**I suddenly realized while writing this chapter, that the other characters from Fairy Tail don't get too much spotlight in FF. At least, the stories that I've read didn't give them much of it, so I'll try to change that too. Write a one-shot or two involving them. Include them in my stories. Etc.**

**Hope you enjoyed it. ^^**

**Saludos.  
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	4. Jellal: Reassurance

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.**

**I do own the idea for the fic though.**

* * *

><p><strong>My candy.<strong>

_(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fan-fiction story.)_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4: Reassurance<strong>

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><p>*Sigh*<p>

'So tired and all because of some stupid rumors, it's not like I really care actually, after what Lucy said I felt the urge to leave things clear but now… now I seriously don't care about the whole deal as much as earlier.' Natsu thought to himself as he remained sprawled over his bed staring at the ceiling of his bedroom, his cellphone replaying the same music as one hour ago and his eyes growing heavy with each second; it was 9pm and he was still awake.

*Bip! Bip!*

Shaking his head awake, the pink-haired boy raised his arm to take a look at his cellphone's screen, seeing it light up and displaying a message alert. He raised an eyebrow in wonder, who could be texting him this late on school days? Opening the cell's lid, he clicked the middle button and read the content of the message.

Natsu! What r u doing?

From: Jellal

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:04

He raised an eyebrow at the message, not grasping what he wanted to know, the blue-haired man was used to send messages at this late hour to talk about random stuff from college but he never started asking how he was doing. Thinking about it, perhaps the boy learned of his little outburst today at the school courtyard and he wanted to know what happened… though, always one with a careful attitude with the council member, Natsu answered evasively.

Hi, listening music, y?

From: Natsu

To: Jellal

XX/XX/11 21:06

*Bip!*

Nothing big, just asking, did u hear anything new at school?

From: Jellal

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:09

Of course he did! 'Only the pres. being interested in you but it's not like I'll tell you about it…' The pink-haired thought in dry amusement, frowning slightly at remembering the occurrences of that day at school; the rumors Elfman talked about, Gray's annoying answers, Lucy's help when he was down about them and Lyon's advice with his problems that now that he thought about it wasn't of big help if he wasn't going to do anything with it. He tipped his answer with both hands, changing to sit on his bed to avoid falling sleep; his mp still playing his usual playlist.

Nah, y? Did you?

From: Natsu

To: Jellal

XX/XX/11 21:12

*Bip!*

Yes, just some silly rumor about

Erza-san being interested in me… xD

From: Jellal

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:15

Natsu tightened the hold on his cellphone subconsciously, narrowing his eyes at what was written; sure that Jellal would be taking this whole deal like a laugh since he always got in the middle of such rumors. The boy removed his earphones and turned off the music, standing up to write the next message.

YR, I heard about it too…

From: Natsu

To: Jellal

XX/XX/11 21:20

*Bip!*

…U k? I thought u would be

laughing by now… ¿?

From: Jellal

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:23

Natsu rolled his eyes at the message, scowling at noticing that the boy didn't remember about their talk a year ago; well, it wasn't like he could blame him for that, Jellal had many other important things on his mind besides friends' deep conversations.

*Bip!*

Hey, sorry about it, I remembered

what you told me…

From: Jellal

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:25

Half a smile crept on his face at reading the message, jumping back first on his bed, Natsu tipped out the next message.

10X pal, I knew I could count with

you…

From: Natsu

To: Jellal

XX/XX/11 21:28

*Bip!*

Yw, don't worry Natsu and don't

listen to those rumors, they're

not true…

From: Jellal

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:30

And with that last message, Natsu's mind felt at ease, even if he didn't knew why, he welcomed the feeling and how it made everything go back to normal on his life. No worries, no problems; just him, his friends and school to worry about. He left the phone open on the nightstand and marched to the bathroom, taking a bath to relax his body before going to bed completely; it was too late and he had to go to school earlier the next morning.

_15 minutes later…_

Staring at the ceiling of his bedroom, the pink-haired boy felt his eyes growing heavy with each second, the dim light from outside alluring him to dreamland before he could noticed it and before he could notice his cellphone vibrating on the nightstand with a message alert on it, the preview of it showing something that might have stop his calmness.

*Bip!*

Hey, you won't mind if I…

Ask her something, right?

From: Jellal

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:55

**To be continued**

* * *

><p><strong>Update.<strong>

**Still not talkative but I got some words about this chapter.**

**It was short, it was kind of rushed, maybe, I don't know, and the end is actually...! xD**

**Cliffhanger, yeah, not going to tell yet; you'll have to wait. Hahaha!**

**Enjoy!  
><strong>

**Saludos.  
><strong>


	5. Special: Wingman

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.**

**I do own the idea for the fic though.**

* * *

><p><strong>My candy.<strong>

_(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fan-fiction story.)_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: Wingman<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>THIS CHAPTER WAS WRITTEN LIKE THIS IN ORDER TO GIVE HUMOR TO IT, FLAMES ARE UNDERSTOOD AND ACCEPTED.<strong>

'Natsu's thoughts' in between quotes._ Special guest's thoughts _in Italics.

* * *

><p>Left, right; left, right, turned with the left on a corner, and left and right again.<p>

Natsu dragged his legs forward with all his willpower, the school getting closer with each step he took and the dreadful filling at the pit of his stomach growing by the second. His face showed all the signs of unrest, annoyance and sourness that a person who woke roughly had.

But it wasn't how he woke what had him on that state; it was what happened during his sleep what had him like this. Natsu never bought those stories about dreams telling you something or warning you or advising you, he just thought of them as any other normal person. Some random images with no real meaning that he didn't want to remember right now.

_But you all need to know about that dream, right?_

The dream started showing Gray at his house's doorstep as a salesman offering him a plane travel to a deserted island covered with a beautiful variety of scarlet roses. Later, Lucy appeared behind him out of nowhere telling him why he should listen to the guy and Lyon came behind the salesman Gray to tell Natsu that he should investigate more before going to that island.

Before he could be overwhelmed with the crossed talk, a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and the next thing he saw was Jellal dragging him out of the crowd to tell him that he shouldn't be bothered by him not going with him.

And the last and most confusing image was; Natsu sitting on the place of a pilot inside an already flying plane, the island with scarlet roses in sight, and sitting at his side was… a black haired man he never saw before in his life, as his co-pilot. To say that he didn't scream scared at the sight would be a lie, even if the man's only action was to give him a broad smile and a wave of hands.

He woke with a start, sweaty and still tired even after sleeping more than he should. In fact, he should have woken up at 6 and it was 7 thirty when he did, he was going to be late whether he hurried to the school or walked to the place.

So with how tired and grumpy as he was, Natsu wasn't bothered with walking at his own pace. What did bother him was receiving text messages from his friends that asked him why he wasn't at school yet, as he did so. He didn't reply any of the messages, two things stopping him. First, it was because of them that he was getting late, giving all this weird ideas and talks regarding his… interest for the council's president. Second, he forgot to leave his cellphone charging before going to bed and now it was running out of battery, so as to keep it for emergencies, he wouldn't waste what little energy it has left.

The message from Jellal? Yeah. He read it, but couldn't care less about it. The message didn't said or implied anything in special, just a question to him that was unnecessary. It wasn't like he needed his permission to ask the president something, he could do as he wished since he knew the woman better and more than him.

Left, right; left, right, turned with the right on a corner, and left and right again.

He entered the school grounds and he found them as he should at that time of the day. Deserted. All of the students were in their classrooms listening to their teachers or, in some cases, preparing for the last great event of the year.

The Fantasia Parade.

Which wasn't like a real parade that went across the city and all that, but a simple celebration held at the school grounds to celebrate the passing of younger students to their next year or the graduates to their college life. It was pretty well-done; it had fireworks, activities, artists, and whatever other thing one could think of. It was nice to have something like that before finishing a year or a period of your life, and encouraging too.

But there was something that annoyed Natsu to no end.

The election of Mr. and Ms. Fairy High. You won't guess who the winners are each year since 3 years ago. Okay, yes, you've got it; it wasn't so hard to guess it, right? But! To avoid upsetting our protagonist even more than he already is, their names will not be written or mentioned here so…!

'They're Jellal and Erza…' Natsu thought bitterly in answer.

_Hey! Why did you think that? What are you trying to do! ? _

'Stop putting me in these weird situations!'

_Don't break the fourth wall, you idiot!_

'I'll do whatever I want!'

_Okay then, have it your way! I'm not writing your adventures anymore!_

'You're a lousy writer…' The flame-brain boy gave as a short and stupid answer to the beautiful and superb writer's exclamation before he took his leave from the keyboard, tired of standing the kid's annoying attitude…

…

…

…u cant b serious…

hey come back!

…

who will write this now?

geeez what a wuss

kay looks like ill have to do this on my own

how does tis work?

guess ill have to figure it out alone… - natsu though tirely while walking to the front door off the school with his feet, his hands inside his pokets and his head high. his suitcase hangin' losely to the side – what a nice day

_That's how you write?_

u return'd? comin' to see my awesome writin'?

_Yes and no! Answer my question, dammit!_

uh? yeah have a problem?

_It's an eyesore, now I get why Gray's always fighting you._

thats cause i'm better than him

_Yeah, right._

i am!

_You're giving me a headache and leaving me blind, you know?_

i now

_Did you try to say 'know' there? You missed a letter!_

were? oh! thats a typo

_You missed it again!_

seriosly?

_Holy **** **** **** **** **** mother! You're so annoying! Look, pal, I'm here to help you, not fight you; so let's do this right._

pal? since when r we friends?

_Oh, I don't know, maybe since I started writing your actions six months ago? And stop missing letters!_

that long?

_Yes. THAT long. And I waste my time making you someone more or less smarter, stronger and less annoying than you display._

wow, really?

_Yes! Please stop with this torture!_

kay kay, ill stop

_You're not stopping._

'I'll stop writing like a 12 year old. There, hapy?'

_T-that's… y-you…! Yeah, I am, but you missed a letter there._

'Nothing's good enough for you.'

_That's right! That's why I improve in my writing skills; I'm not satisfied with my writing, even if many say that I'm the best, and thus, I'm always looking for a way to make it better. Now, let's stop this and continue with the story, okay?_

'Okay, _pal_, but keep on with that better-than-you-show thingy…' The elegant and intelligent Natsu thought, as his original and unique rose hair moved and shined gloriously with the blowing wind and bright sun, his feet leaving a trail of white light and red roses at every step he gave. 'Don't… overdo it…'

_Fine_. Our friend walked uninterrupted inside the school building, strolling casually through the hallways with no rush whatsoever as he headed to his locker to get his stuff for the next class. Watching the ceiling, the courtyard, the classroom as he crossed past them, until Natsu committed one fatal mistake; that he was, at least, fast to counter.

He stepped in front of the one classroom he should have avoided.

'I hate you…' _I__ know_. The pink-haired thought with dry amusement, his body freezing when it felt a pair of brown eyes glaring daggers at him through the classroom door's window; there's no need to say that… he stood paralyzed for just a second before running away for his dear life. The sound of the classroom's door opening loudly and footsteps following him at the same speed he was at was something that his ears didn't miss in the midst of the escape.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Neither did they miss the terrible doom-foretelling scream that the person behind him was doing while following him through the halls, the courtyard, the front hall, the sports field, the gym, etc. They even ran inside Principal Makarov's office, much to the old man's surprise, that could only gape in shock and fear at how demonic the president looked when hunting down her target.

"Leave me alone! Please!" Natsu pleaded in a vain attempt to calm the woman behind him, already starting to feel his legs aching for so much running. Though, his pleads fell on deaf ears, the footsteps behind him getting faster now that the predator knew her prey was starting to grow tired of the persecution.

Natsu gave one last plea before going serious, dropping his suitcase, unbuttoning his shirt's top buttons and rolling up his sleeves; clenching his teeth as an idea came to him now out of despair, he needed to avoid the red-head until the bell rang. That way, maybe, he would be able to avoid punishment. Now, more comfortable and with all unnecessary weight left behind, the runaway student continued to run for his dear life with more earnestness; his pursuer's eyes glinting at the sight of a challenge in front of her.

"GOOD! I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE!" She proclaimed while unbuttoning her shirt's top buttons and rolling up her sleeves as the boy did before, making him shout back in shock embarrassment at her actions.

"It wasn't a challenge and don't unbutton your shirt!" _I__ can__'__t__ believe __you__ actually said__ that, __anyway_; Natsu screamed to the top of his lungs while pressing his legs forward with what little strength he had left, turning right, left, going down the stairs, going up, until he found himself cornered at the rooftop of the main building. His back against the railings, his hands going to grab the bars to support his tired body and his eyes gazing at the only exit from the place blocked by the president standing in front of it; who was grinning victoriously at him for catching him with nowhere to go. 'She didn't catch me yet!'

_Do you have a way to escape?_

Natsu looked to the left, and then to the right, before returning his gaze at the cautiously approaching figure in front of him; he felt a drop of sweat running down his temple, time was running out and he needed to find an emergency exit…

'Wait a minute!'

Turning his eyes to the left again, the boy found the escape route he was looking for surrounded by light; the emergency stairs that went down the side from outside the building. Shifting his gaze to the front again, he found that the girl stopped her approach midway; clearly aware that her prey found a way to continue with their persecution, she prepared her legs to intercept him before he reached the emergency exit, making the boy in front of her swallow hardly before steeling his resolve and standing up correctly.

"Say, what you were doing in the halls during school hours?" She asked out of curiosity, taking the boy by surprise with the question. Her hands moving up to tie her scarlet hair into a high ponytail, so that way it wouldn't bother her in the following run.

"Huh? Going to my classroom, I was late…" Natsu replied sheepishly, which made the president's glare shatter. A delicate hand going to point at the pink-haired boy shakily while her mouth struggled to form words that could explain what was going through her head.

"Y-you mean…? Y-you weren't slouching…? T-that I delayed you even more…?" Natsu's eyes were small points, his mouth agape and his thinking stopped when he heard those questions.

"Um… Yeah…?" Was the short nervous reply to the question.

_Seriously though, you could have come with a better answer._

'What else could I say?'

_Something like: That's right, but it was my fault for running away in the first place?_

'Ugh…! Y-you've a point there…'

_Then say it!_

Catching the hint, Natsu tried to explain his side of the story. "Y-yeah, b-but…!"

"Oh god! Please forgive me! You must be mad at me for that!" She walked hurriedly towards him, flustered at the fact that she did wrong and not good this time. Words died down in Natsu's throat at the shock and the closeness between them, the blush on his face could be perfectly mistaken for body heat after so much running. "Please punch me!"

'W-what?' He stared at her in surprise, not believing her words.

_Say, Natsu; what are you doing to do?_

'D-do as she says…?'

_Thank your father that you have me with you, otherwise, you'll be doing stupid things everywhere you go; explain yourself!_

'O-okay!'

The pink-haired boy swallowed with a loud thump and released a sigh, moving his hands to button up his shirt and unroll his sleeves to be presentable, shocking the girl in front him with his move. He turned his eyes to look at her in the eyes and nodded to himself. "Punch me, I ran away first."

_Good going!_

*Smack!*

_Uh… *Sweatdrops*_

'H-hate… you…'

_I know… and I'm sorry!_

Being a person that did as she was told, the president didn't hesitate to do as the pink-haired boy said and smacked him across the face. Her features going back to normal as she extended a hand down to help the boy stood up, her other hand going to her shirt pocket to hand him a handkerchief with which clean his bleeding nose.

"Dragneel, right?" She asked him while helping him to stand shakily on his two feet again, withdrawing her hand quickly and showing the one with the handkerchief rather quickly. Natsu nodded with a little movement of his head to avoid staining his white shirt with the red liquid, he took the offered piece of cloth to wipe away the small trail of blood coming from his nose, at the same time his thumb rubbed the sore spot where her fist also collided; being that one his left cheekbone. She nodded at his answer, walking to lean on the railings next to his left side as she waited for him to finish cleaning himself. "Why were you late?"

"Huh? Ah, that, well…" Natsu stopped his hand for a moment and hesitated to answer, looking at the door intently as if thinking that running away was better than answering her question.

"Don't think of running away, I 'will' punish you if you do." Was her mind-reading statement, already guessing what he was thinking while looking at the door, though, that brought a question from our pink-haired friend.

"Y-you aren't going to punish me for being late?" She shook her head in answer; he tilted his head in confusion. "Why?"

"I'm part of the cause for your lateness; it wouldn't be fair if I punish you for it." She said as a matter of fact with close eyes and crossed arms, surprising the boy next to her with her sense of justice. "But that doesn't mean that you can be this late always."

"I-I know! And thanks…" He said sheepishly, turning to look to the right and avoid looking at her.

"Don't thank me…" She was cut-short before finishing her sentence.

"Sorry then, I won't be late next time…" He said going to stare back at her, his hand moving to return the blood-stained handkerchief. She looked at him and later at the object on his hand, moving hers to close his hand and push his arm back while shaking her head in disapproval.

"Have you no manners? Clean it first, and then give it back." He blinked twice at her before nodding, moving to save the piece of fabric inside his shirt pocket. "Let's get back before break starts."

"A-aye Pres!" He answered quickly, already walking to the exit with the scarlet-haired girl leading the way.

"My name is Erza, not 'Pres', Dragneel." She said opening the door and crossing it first, leaving the pink-haired boy behind with his eyes wide and mind blank.

'…'

_*Sigh* Here we go again... Natsu?_

'…'

_At least walk... please?_

'…okay…'

Natsu followed her through the corridors with his mouth shut, nodding or shaking his head in answer at her questions, only speaking when a more detailed answer was needed. Talking about things he did, she did, he likes, she likes and such; to say the least, a very normal –and boring- conversation between people their age.

"So, what do you do?" She started. "Besides school, I mean."

"Eh?" He turned his head to look at her; her eyes were fixed to the road ahead. "Well, not much, I listen to music and go out with my friends…"

"Any band in special?" She continued, he looked up in wonder.

"Nah," He shook his head. "I like a little of everything… and you?

"I see," She nodded. "Same as me."

"Ah…" He shut his mouth; she eyed him from the corner of her eyes, almost rolling them at noticing that she would have to continue the conversation.

"And," She called his attention, he turned to look at her again. "Who are these friends with which you go out?"

"Well," He raised a hand to count them, don't think wrong, he had plenty of friends; it's just that he goes out with those he was more acquaintance with. "I mostly go with Gray, Lucy, Jellal and Levy…"

"It's strange then, than we hadn't crossed our paths before," He gave her a questioning look; she turned to look at him. "I hang with Lucy and Levy too, sometimes."

"Oh, that," He started sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Lucy doesn't want me and Gray with her when she's out with her friends, says we're too childish or something like that."

"Figures, I've heard of your meaningless quarrels before." He laughed nervously.

"Y-yeah, but that's mostly Gray's fault," He tried to explain. "He doesn't know to take a joke."

"Even if you're not the one to start it, you're at fault for following his lead," His face dropped at the truth, but her next words made him look at her incredulously. "But I cannot blame you; I used to be the same with Mira."

"Mira? You mean Mirajane?" She nodded.

"Yes," She gave him a victorious look, almost gloating at her next words. "But it was a long time ago, when we were kids."

"O-oh, I-I see…" He managed to say as his head dropped again; going back on the path they did during the persecution, he picked up his dropped suitcase on their way to clarify things with the Principal… she wanted to leave everything in order, not caring if she had to drag Natsu along. At the place, both apologize to the old man for running inside the school and through his office, and he dismissed them with a shrug and a brush of his hand, only asking them to not do it again; never again.

They went out of the office with different reactions; she was scowling at how easy the old man dismissed the incident while he was sighing in relief at not receiving any punishment from his part. They resumed their walk together, him going to get the things for the next class, and she following him to see that he did as such, passing through the hallways again with their small talk restarted until they both found themselves stopping at the familiar sound of the bell.

Break started.

"I'll go and explain my escape from class to the teacher, want me to do the same for you?" She asked him already moving to the teacher's lounge, he stood still at the question, grabbing the strap of his suitcase with one hand and scratching the back of his head in thinking with the other.

_It's not hard to realize that you should go with her, you know?_

'B-but what if she's tired of having me around?'

_For how she punched you when you told her to, I guess that if she's tired of having you around she would have said so already._

'You better be right this time!' Natsu shook his head in answer, his legs moving to follow her as he said. "I'll go with you."

She nodded to him and leaded the way to the lounge, disregarding the looks and whisper of the students that were now outside their classrooms as they saw then walking together. Natsu steeled his face the best he could when he crossed near his classroom, sending a hateful glare when he saw Gray smirking at him with Lucy next to him with an incredulous look. Jellal was nowhere to be seen, he was probably already at the student council's meeting.

'Good, I don't want him to think wrong…' The pink-haired thought with a tired sigh, his eyes shifting to gaze the back of the… of Erza as she leaded him to their destination. _Here__'__s __the__ end __for __me._

'What?'

_As you heard, I'm leaving… I can't do everything for you. *Snickers*_

'Again, what?'

_But don't worry, you'll do alright, I'm sure of it._

'I'm not getting it!'

_And don't get me wrong, it's just that I don't want to break your hopes and illusions. *Laughs*_

'Hopes and illusions? What're you…? Hey! I do not like her!'

_Sure pal, sure._

'Want me to punch you? Go away already!'

_Okay, okay, don't get mad pal… and good luck! *Laughs harder*_

'You…! I'll smoke you!'

"Is something the matter?" Erza asked him, a little curious as to why he was growling and frowning to himself; he jumped a little at the voice, shaking his head repeatedly before turning it to look at her quizzically. "Is everything alright, Dragneel?"

"Uh? Yeah! Everything's fine, Pres!" She looked unconvinced by his quick-nervous answer, but disregarded it as something else and took it as him being uncomfortable by the stares they were receiving.

"I don't believe you, but if you say so, Dragneel, I'll believe you. And it's 'Erza', not 'Pres'." He sighed in relief but turned to look at her with a pout.

"Then it's 'Natsu', not 'Dragneel'." She looked mildly surprised at the statement but nodded.

"Okay, 'Natsu', let's keep going, or you'll miss the recess."

"You too, didn't you have a meeting now?" She shrugged.

"If Jellal's there, they'll handle themselves fine, besides," He shuddered at the glare she sent him. "I need to make sure you explain yourself to your teacher and later march, straight, to your classroom when break's over."

"Yes ma'am!" He answered obediently, not realizing the contradiction in her words. She wanted to get this through so he could go and enjoy the recess, but at the same time wanted him to go straight to the classroom after everything were explained. _God, help him._

**To be continued**

* * *

><p><strong>Possible breakage of the 4th wall in this chapter, those that don't like the authors interacting with characters of their stories go back and read something else. Though, if you want to have a good laugh, you're more than welcome to continue! xD<strong>

**That should have been written at the top, don't you think?**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it my friends, next chapter, one of the FT characters will be the one helping the stubborn pink-haired boy.**

**So wait for it!**

**Saludos.**

**Possiblebreakage of the 4th wall in this chapter, those that don't like the authors interacting with characters of their stories go back and read something else. Though, if you want to have a good laugh, you're more than welcome to continue! xD **


	6. Ultear: Realization

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.**

**I do own the idea for the fic though.**

* * *

><p><strong>My candy.<strong>

_(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fan-fiction story.)_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: Realization.<strong>

* * *

><p>"ISTBY".<p>

Or basically, "it sucks to be you", was what our friend was thinking at the moment, walking back to his classroom with his jailor close behind. Explanations were made, reasons were understood, deal was done; though, try saying that to the president when she has her mind set into something. Of course, there's no reason for not trying, you "could" –keyword, 'could'- try and perish bravely with no-one to remember you, or you could remain quiet and let things go as they are since the first outcome –especially the last part of it- doesn't sounds too encouraging.

Natsu chose the second option, figures.

Preferring to keep his arms and legs where they are, the teenager with the rather weird pink hair, continued to walk back to his classroom; ignoring the weird-pity-amused-shocked gazes of his high school peers… _their _high school peers to the best of his ability, failing miserably when confronted with his classmates, and you couldn't blame him.

What would you do if your –sort of- best friend looks at you with a shit-eating grin and mocks you while being tortured?

The most obvious, of course, would be ignoring him; the time will come when the asshole would suffer likewise.

And the least obvious, as you all know, would be punching him on the face for being the asshole he is.

Natsu… chose the least obvious; surprise!

Want me to do another situation like before? Yes? Perfect!

What would the student council president do in such a situation? She is in charge of maintaining order and makes the rules be followed, besides working to improve the space of each of the students that elected her –and those who didn't- while she's in charge.

So, a student walked inside a classroom and hit another, without more reason that because the other was making fun of him.

The rational course of action, no doubt, would be scolding both and sent the aggressor to the Principal for a well-earned punishment.

The most irrational course of action that you could think of, would be, mercilessly pound both students for disrupting order until both find themselves in need of going to the infirmary.

And Erza chose the irrational way, for Gray and Natsu's disgrace.

"Don't move!" Yelled irritated the appointed doctor of the High school, Porlyusica G'dine, while she worked on the pink-haired's bruised face; sending a hateful glare towards the next patient.

"I don't get why I got beaten too!" Gray moaned painfully, caressing his left cheek tenderly as he waited for treatment.

"For being an idiot, that's why." Lucy replied swiftly to her childish boyfriend.

"And I don't get why you are here too!" Natsu said to her, pointing a finger under the doctor's arm before this one got slapped down by the president… who was also there, surveying everything.

"Is rude to point fingers, especially to a lady." Erza scolded with a glare in place, the defended blonde sticking her tongue out to mock Natsu as he could only remain quiet in the situation.

"Stop bringing me your victims! You disrupt my lecture hours!" Yelled, yet again, an irritated Porlyusica as her glare changed objective and landed on the scarlet-haired president; who could only nod and apologize for the trouble she cause. The elder woman ignored the apology before finishing with the first patient wounds, turning to see the second victim with disinterest. Preferring to return to her book, she called for her assistant to continue with the droppy-eyes' injuries that now needed bandaging to finish. "Girl! Bandages!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming…" Replied tiredly an all-too-familiar voice for Natsu, who felt a shiver down his spine as the worst thing that could happen that day, happened. Exiting the infirmary personnel's office, was a pale skinned woman with long black hair tied into a low-ponytail, and black eyes, wearing the normal nurses' attire that looked extremely sexy and provoking for the male' eyes of the room. Gray needing to be slapped to return to reality by an angry -and jealous- blonde, while Natsu felt he could die right there and then when the woman met eyes with him.

'I'm doomed…'

"Natsu?" She asked first, walking a few steps and passing through the confuse president as if she wasn't there, while she tried to take a better look of the guy sitting on the treatment's table; Erza immediately felt annoyed. The woman took a closer look, eyed the boy from both sides of his face –making him sweat bullets at the proximity- and returned to stare at him from the front, staying awfully quiet until… "It is you! Natsu!"

Now.

Another situation.

Yeah, not the best time, but I feel like I need to do this. You'll thank me later.

What would you do if a best friend –it works better if he/she and you are of opposite sexes- meets with you again after a long time? 4 years passed, you spent most of your childhood with this friend, wished him/her well when you both had to take separate roads, and tried to keep in contact with him/her besides the long distance because of their shared memories.

Now, the thing is, if your friend and you reunite after a long time of not seeing each other face-to-face or communicating at all:

Would you give him a hug and greetings while asking him/her how's it been for him/her? Normal kind of friend.

Or would you just greet him/her dryly while asking why he or she didn't keep in touch? Cold shoulder tactic.

Ultear Milkovich did… none of the two.

"Y-yeah… it's mhpf!" And Natsu committed the fatal mistake of opening his mouth to reply. She lunged forward like a beast on its prey and kiss him without shame, fully on the lips, taking the chance to french kiss him as he had his mouth open… leaving all the spectators with their mouth hanging, and the poor boy with his eyes widened in shock as his hands tried in vain to pushed the woman off of him without true success. And when she leaned forward with her body to make him lay on the bed… let's say that it got awkward. "Get…! of…! me…!"

"Y-you…! Get off him and act properly!" Demanded the president as she tried to help the boy on getting the woman off of him, managing to separate them a few inches, enough for the woman to talk lovingly to Natsu; staring with deep emotion at his shocked black eyes.

"I missed you, my fiery lover…" There was a massive pause and terrible silence after those words, jaws dropping to the floor as everyone felt their eyes bulging out of shock from their sockets; the harassed boy just blinked.

"…your what?"He asked confused in a low voice that only she could hear, she winked at him, probably having some sort of idea she wanted him to follow. He nodded slowly.

"Did you miss me?" Natsu, catching the idea, smirked and kiss her lightly on the lips; cringing a little when doing so and earning even more shocked expressions from his friends… and the president.

"Yeah! I felt dead while you're away…" He faked the sad puppy eyes the best he could, pouting a little to add some extra spice to the scene. Gray lowered his head with his chin still hitting the floor not getting what was going on, Lucy felt a blush coming to her face as her legs wobbled, and Erza narrowed her eyes, her hands and arms continuing to try and get the nurse from on top of the pink-haired student. Ultear kept on clinging to the boy as if nothing was glaring and trying to get her off on top of him, staring lovingly at Natsu until she remembered –pretended to remember- that there was people inside the room.

"Oh! Sorry!" She apologized hastily, cutting the lovey-dovey act to stand properly and see the other students in the room, eyeing their expressions one by one and almost losing her facade after seeing the other boy staring dumbly at her with the blonde girl next to him raising a arm to slap him out of his trance; she didn't missed the stern look from the red-head either, or the small hit of anger that her eyes were sending at her. "My name's Ultear Milkovich, I'm Porlyusica-san's assistant…"

The teens remained quiet. Exchanging looks in between the black-haired woman and their friend while questions continued to pile over on their fooled minds, for example, who was this woman and why did she seem to be a… "close" friend of the pink-haired boy? Was he really that good with women to earn such a reaction from an older one?

And more importantly, fiery lover?

Really?

The questions were obviously made by the female populace of the room, since Gray was still in some sort of shock or better said, still mesmerized by the woman's looks.

Lucy narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "How do you know Natsu? I'm Lucy, by the way."

Ultear smiled mentally. "We were childhood friends… and a couple…"

Gray, having finally grasped the situation and his mind, raised a confused eyebrow. "How come we didn't meet you, then?"

"I know Ul-chan from my neighborhood, she moved out 8 years ago, before I met you guys…" Natsu answered with a shy smile, he was enjoying this.

"8 years ago?" Lucy questioned out loud, doing the math in her head. "But Natsu was 11 years old then… how… you know… 'fiery lover'?"

"Oh, that!" The black-haired woman smiled and blushed at the same time, going to sit next to the smirking Natsu while he hugged her waist with one arm and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "You would be surprise at how mature my 'Salamander' can be when you get to know him…"

"Salamander?" Erza asked in clear confusion, the nurse nodded and moved one hand to caress the pink locks of her –supposed- ex-boyfriend.

"She liked..."

"I still do…" She whispered close to his ear, watching secretly amused at the expressions of everyone when Natsu looked at her apologetically with a playboy's smile.

"She likes to read Shakespeare… and I like to listen when she reads." Both shared a meaningful and tender gaze before returning their eyes to their audience.

"Still… How old are you?" Gray, almost gagging from the sheer sweetness, asked.

"I'm 22…" She said with an uncaring shrug, making shock fill the room again.

"And I'm 19 now, so there wasn't much of a gap between us…" Natsu added.

"Besides, ago doesn't matter," Ultear moved the pink-haired's head with her index finger on his chin, both sharing another meaningful gaze with half-lidded eyes; damn, they were good. "It is love for one another what should matter the most…"

Gray excused himself after the corny scene, entering the infirmary's bathroom and locking the door behind him; not a sound came from the inside. Lucy sweatdropped at her boyfriend's antics but couldn't fight back the blush that spread on her face at the novel-like scene. Erza tapped her foot twice and clenched her teeth in irritation, showing clearly that the situation wasn't of her liking at all… even if she too had a faint blush on her face.

"Whatever!" Erza yelled finally, not standing the lovey-dovey act. "It's not allowed to be like that inside the school!"

"Like that? How?" Natsu and Lucy asked in clear confusion, both staring at the president, waiting for an answer.

"Like…! Like…! Like this is some class of motel or soap opera!" She yelled after finding something to which compare the situation, Ultear and Natsu looking shyly at the floor while Lucy raised a quizzical eyebrow. Was there a rule for that?

Just then, the door to the infirmary opened.

"Are you okay, darling?" Asked a girl while following who seemed to be her boyfriend.

"Y-yes… don't worry about me, honey…" He flashed a smile at her, she blushed and both continued to walk towards Porlyusica's office, with his bruise arm held tenderly by the girl; they knocked on the door and entered after being allowed to, not acknowledging the other people inside the main room.

Silence engulfed the place.

All eyes moved to the president.

And she felt an embarrass blush cover her entire face before growling to all of the presents and walking –stomping- out of the room, closing the door hard as she exited. Leaving a bunch of confused people behind her, that after a minute of staring vacantly at the door, burst out laughing like idiots; except for Lucy, she wanted to live.

She could understand Erza's reaction, not every day you get yourself the embarrassment of your life and stay to hear the laughs, so, the reasonable action would be to get out as fast as your feet allow you. But something about what happened irked the blonde's curiosity; why did the president say that fake rule to stop them? She could have told them to be less lovey-dovey and, with her character, they would have agreed to knock it down a little. And other thing that bothered her; why didn't the girl notice that they were acting?

The moment Natsu saw the woman enter the room, he freaked out and tried to pushed off of him with all his strength until Ultear whispered something to her, making them the reunited couple that they witnessed and made Gray go to the bathroom.

She looked at the laughing pair on the bed, both so into that laugh that they didn't notice that she was looking at them disapprovingly until Natsu stopped to see her. "What's wrong, Lucy?"

"What's wrong? You're incorrigible, Natsu!" She yelled to him, surprising him, she moved close to him and got him up the bed from his ear; earning some pained protests and more laughs from the black-haired woman, she made the boy stand in front of her to tell him what she thought. "You do know that she left because she was jealous, right?"

"Uh? No, I saw her frustrated and embarrassed…" A slap to the head.

"Natsu! There's your sign to know that she feels the same as you do for her!" The boy stopped whatever was about to say and looked at his friend with serious eyes.

"Sign? That's no sign! She could be jealous of how close we looked or whatever!" Another slap, this time from behind him; turning around, the pink-haired glared at the woman who he didn't saw for the past years.

"She's right, Natsu, no girl would act like that because of what you say, she really feels something for you." Natsu looked back between the two staring females before pointing an accusing finger at the older woman.

"But you were the one of the idea!" Ultear shook her head.

"Only because I notice it when I entered the room, as the girl slapped her boyfriend, that red-head was looking at you from the corner of her eyes to witness your reaction." Natsu opened his mouth to say something else, but shut it. "I did it to make her snap and you to notice that she likes you."

"You could have warned me, then!"

"Natsu, go, explain and apologize before she gets the wrong idea…" Lucy advised with a tired sigh, too used about her friend's behavior. The pink-haired looked at her weirdly, and then looked at Ultear, and then at the floor; thinking about what he should do.

"Okay…" He said before dashing out of the room to find the president, leaving the two girls to their devices. Ultear looked at the closing door for a moment before turning to look at the blonde, demanding an explanation about Natsu's situation that the girl complied to give, hearing about her childhood friend's crush and later falling to the strict woman that commanded the student council. To later tell what his friends –she, Gray and some others- planned to help him.

Ultear smirked playfully, liking the blonde's ideas. "Seems like you have all covered…"

"Yeah, but with Natsu, is harder than making Freed-san notice that Mira-chan likes him…"

**To be continued.**

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><p><strong>YEAH!<strong>

**Update, my fellows! You didn't think I would abandon this story, right?**

**Of course you didn't! What am I saying! Hahaha!**

**The next chapter will be up for tomorrow if reviews for this chapter spike to 4!**

**Until then, you'll have to wait, sorry about it! xD**

**Saludos!**

**PS: I'm pretty sure that some -if not all- of the characters were OOC. But, oh well, I cannot turned them back to normal now, not when I'm at chapter 6 and everything ends in chapter 8, right? ^^  
><strong>


	7. Levy: Tactics

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.**

**I do own the idea for the fic though.**

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><p><strong>My candy.<strong>

_(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fan-fiction story.)_

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><p><strong>Chapter 7: Tactics.<strong>

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><p>Embarrassing situations left behind –with Ultear and her weird thoughts-, our pink-haired passed the rest of the day with a dreadful feeling at the pit of his stomach. Not liking the thought of going back the next day and find the black-haired woman again and again, until the end of high school in 2 months, but finding it curiously worth-seeing if what she and Lucy told him was right; and since our friend got the heads-up, reassurance and advices that he needed, he was going to try and for just this once listen to his friends' words.<p>

'What's the worst that can happen?'

Poor you, if only you knew. Natsu wasn't the brightest of his group of friends, but he knew that they were up to something, what? He knew that they wanted to help him with his crush for the president, but he just felt that receiving their help would be both, helpful and shameful to him. Like that day earlier, he discovered that Erza Scarlet had feelings for him too, and that she was a hard bone when one wanted to apologize to her… but it was worth it; now, he had some positive leads and thoughts about the subject, and he wasn't going to waste them.

But that could wait…

A little movement and he was comfortable, some clicks and his favorite song was on, and some ease of mind and he could relax himself from the tiring day that he had; on his bed, listening music, without friends bothering him or crazy presidents chasing him around the school… but he would get none of that.

*Bip! Bip!*

"Awww… what now?" He asked himself as he stopped his music player and moved through the phone's menu to see his inbox, a new message… from Levy? Curiosity killed the cat, they say, and Natsu was about to discover why; opening the message, he felt his eyes widen for the umpteenth time that day.

Want to score the president?

From: Levy

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 20:47

Not only did it surprise the boy what the girl was asking but how she was saying it, she never heard the worm book girl talk like that, ever; except, when she was dealing with the raven-haired guy from Phantom High. He clicked the 'reply' button and typed his answer, the feeling at the pit of his stomach growing.

Yeah, I guess so…

From: Natsu

To: Levy

XX/XX/11 20:50

He laid his cellphone on his belly; staring at the ceiling of his room with anxious eyes until he felt the object vibrating, looking at it again, he got his answer.

Follow these simple instructions

and you will be with her for the

Fantasia.

Okay, Natsu?

From: Levy

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 20:52

Ok, Levy, what do I do?

From: Natsu

To: Levy

XX/XX/11 20:54

Natsu wondered for a second how fast the girl could write, but shrugged it off for another moment, he needed to see what the girl wanted him to do; he opened the lid again when it vibrated and clicked to see the message, his eyes widening when he saw that it say that they were three messages and not one.

She had some serious speed for these things!

Either that or she had the messages settled-up for his predictable acceptance of her help; whatever the case, he scowled annoyed at being too predictable for the girls.

Natsu; you need to show her your

best side, and make her feel like

you're worth the time. For that

you're going to need to do some

things that you wouldn't have

done before, like helping around

the school and the council's tasks.

Helping her in special.

She likes that kind of attitude.

Yeah, Natsu, I know what you're

thinking, but with what you do

normally won't be enough.

From: Levy

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 20:56

You'll have to do what I tell you to

for the next month, and I promise

you that she'll be head over hells

for you. Just follow my instructions

from this day forward and you'll get

her! Okay?

From: Levy

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 20:57

First week: Help around in maintaining

order when she's not around. The

students won't listen to you but

if you get serious, it should be easy.

So, to work!

From: Levy

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 20:58

Natsu looked at the three messages with different expressions, changing from bored to surprise and uncertainty in different orders; he was about to write that he didn't need any help after all, but, the past help of his friends and acquaintances made him think twice about it. Nodding to himself, he accepted Levy's help.

Let's see how he fairs…

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><p><em>First week: Maintaining order.<em>

A bunch of sophomores were bothering a group of newcomers, telling them all sort of scary things about the school to have them under their pawns and do of them what they wanted, in between them, the confirmation of the town's rumors about a pink-haired demon that could beat any guy he didn't like and of a red-haired president that could make you clean the whole school if you broke the rules.

And that's where our friend enters.

"Yeah! The pink-haired demon of Fairy High is real! He will murder you unless we keep him away!" Yelled amused one of the sophomores, not noticing the shadow looming behind him with red eyes; the newcomers took a step back at the sight and gulped down.

"That's funny, you know? I didn't kill anyone so far, except for annoying sophomores that make up stories about me…!" Turning around slowly, the older boys started to shake in fear of the person standing with a harsh glare on his face; almost pissing their pants, they apologized quickly and made a run for it, the senior not following them but softening his features to the scared-newcomers that had a double take at his softened face. "Welcome to Fairy High, guys, if you have any troubles with those assholes again, let me –or Erza, the president- know about it, okay?"

And he turned to leave with his head high, feeling content for what he did and understanding why the girl he likes enjoyed her work, oblivious to the worshipping eyes that watched his retreating back.

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><p><em>The end of the school period; during the last meeting of the student's council that week.<em>

"Eh… Miss President?" One of the new delegates called for the day-dreaming president, making her jump at the voice and turn to look at the guy with serious eyes and a nod, expecting to hear what he wanted to say. "W-we have been receiving less complains from the junior students about the sophomores this week…"

Erza looked surprised at hearing that, a raised eyebrow telling the boys and girls of the room to explain what he meant; there's always trouble between the junior and sophomores of the school, so, listening that there was a fall on complaints was seriously surprising. Jellal stood up from his seat and handed her some papers with the names of those that saw the reason of such development, a proud-amused smile on his face at saying what was happening.

"These students say that one of our seniors helped them when they were being bullied by sophomores, they say that it was the 'pink-haired demon' of Fairy High and that they were grateful for his help." The president's eyes widened in surprise and shock, gasping when looking at the long list of names that filled three papers from both sides. "They say that he told them to seek for his or your help if they ever had any kind of troubles again."

And he returned to his seat, his smile not faltering when he saw his scarlet-haired friend smiling at the change of things around the school; she was starting to change her mind about the idiotic pink-haired boy of the school, and how she felt towards him was starting to grew by the second she spent thinking of him.

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><p>Second week: Keep the sophomores<p>

at bay and help the students with the

preparations for the Fantasia Parade.

Good luck!

From: Levy

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:39

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><p><em>Second week: Maintaining order and helping in preparations.<em>

"So, you need more cardboard? I think some guys from class 1-C were looking for someone to give what they spared; go and ask them!" He told cheerfully to the girls from class 2-B, smiling at their signs of gratitude before turning around to check if anyone else needed anything, someone needed to get rid of something or someone, and if someone needed help; any kind of help, that is.

"D-demon!" One of the junior students yelled at him, making him flinched at the nickname. "Some sophomores are trying to break our classroom's decorations!"

He sighed and changed his expression, turning around to face the nervous looking guy with a forced smile. "Tell me where they are and I'll take care of them…"

"O-okay! Let's go, Demon-san!" Natsu stopped the guy with a hand on his shoulder, making him look over his shoulder to see the grinning face of the pink-haired giving him a thumbs up.

"My name's Natsu, pal; now, let's go!" The boy and the students around witnessing the scene widened their eyes in surprised, shocked to see the man so full of confidence and warm to those in trouble. The boy nodded and leaded the way, taking the senior to class 1-A so he could take care of the sophomores; at the place, the guys from last time were trying to enter the classroom to destroy the work of the younger students. The pink-haired cracked his knuckles at the sight, calling the attention of the boys to him and making them cower in fear before they did a run for it; the junior students cheered for him and gave their thanks while he waved good-bye and went to look for anyone else to help.

"Thanks, Natsu-san!" The boy that took him there yelled appreciatively, making him smile embarrassedly at the attention. He was seriously starting to like this.

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><p><em>The end of the school period; during the last meeting of the student's council that week.<em>

"Okay, let's start the meeting," Erza said as she entered the meeting room with a stoic face; she was already used to this, at this part of the year, they received tons of complaints from all classrooms about the problems regarding the Fantasia or the annoying sophomores that destroyed everything from the junior students. Though, when she saw that everyone was just talking cheerfully with each other, she couldn't help but be surprised; normally, they would be sweating bullets and working through papers to help the students, but they were just enjoying themselves. "What's going on here?"

"Oh, nothing, just the 'pink-haired demon' striking again." Jellal said amused, chuckling at the shocked face of the president. "He helped the students with the preparations and kept the sophomores from destroying them, he's seriously good at this; I wonder why he didn't join the council…"

"What?" She asked surprised, hearing just a chuckle from the azure-haired boy before he stood up to give the resumes of that week's work for the parade, again, there were three papers filled with names and classroom that reported their works done or their gratitude towards the senior that they now called 'Natsu-san'. "I-I can't believe this…!"

"Believe it, Natsu has being of great help so far that, many are questioning why he isn't the president." One of the delegates said, a blue-haired girl that smirk at the shocked faces of Jellal and Erza; winking at him to make him understand that there was no harm for their mutual friend in what she was saying, and that she had a plan. The azure-haired boy nodded slowly to her, making a sign for her to explain what she meant, later.

With Erza; she was fuming about what Levy told her. Students? Asking for the pink-haired idiot to be the president instead of her? What of all the things she did for them the past years? She couldn't be at all places at once, so her control of things was limited, and she expected them to understand her… but this! This!

Steeling her face to the best of her ability, she spoke to everyone inside the room, making them flinch with her harsh words. "I'll talk with him. The students' council is the one in charge here; we should be the ones being thanked for by the students, not some 'wannabe' council member student!"

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><p>Third week: Don't do anything, relax<p>

until she comes to talk with you!

Show respect for her work and tell her

that, if she needs help, you are available

to give a hand.

I know it's confusing! Just do as I tell

you, Natsu!

From: Levy

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:39

Natsu looked at the message with confused eyes, not getting what she wanted from him but nodding uncertainly at the message; the girl took the right choices for him so far and he was doing great at school. Teachers praised him for helping around, students respected him, and his friends were shocked to see him doing so many things for the school... Gray mostly. And that was the best reason to keep helping around, but if the girl wanted to stop, there was surely a good reason.

So, it wouldn't hurt to hear her out again, right?

* * *

><p><em>Third week: Do nothing but what she asks of you.<em>

'Okay, nothing for this week, I just need to act normal and wait for _her_ to show up.' The pink-haired student thought with a small yawn, walking to his classroom tiredly while students greeted him at his every step; what he did the past weeks made him happier, the students didn't regard him as the pink-haired demon anymore, and they respected him for being like he is. He smiled to himself and continued to walk, entering his classroom without noticing that one person was standing next to the door and that he passed by her until a hand grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him to the hallways again.

"Natsu," She acknowledged coldly after releasing him against the wall, his back hitting the surface called the attention of everyone around; Erza waited for the man to stop rubbing the back of his head and look at her before talking. "What are you doing?"

'You're kidding me…' He thought with a frown, straightening his posture and leaning against the wall to talk more freely; Levy told him she was going to go and talk with him, but he didn't imagine it like this. She surely was pissed about something, what it was he didn't know, he would have to get the answer by approaching her carefully. "Helping around, why?"

"Because that's the job of the council, not yours, Natsu; why are you doing it?" She wanted reasons from him and her stern face made it clear that she wanted no excuses; he had many excuses but one truth that he could tell her… yet. So he shrugged, looking at her with his most bored face.

"Look, I know it's your job, and I respect that, but I want to help; this is my school too, I want to do something for it before going to college. Is that so bad, Erza?" Said girl narrowed her eyes at him, discerning the half-truth in his words but not asking further, preferring to scold him than having to keep on listening to his silly reasons for helping.

"Good, but that's the job of the student council; do not help unless I ask you to." She was going to retreat back to her classroom when his hand stopped her by grabbing her wrist, his pull from it turning her around to face him with determined eyes that surprised her and those around them –the others were more surprised by the bold move than the face he had-.

"If you ask me, I'll be more than glad to help." And he released his hold on her, entering his classroom without looking back or even acknowledging the looks of his classmates; he said it with his heart, having finally felt the school as a second home –besides a boring torturing chamber- and he wanted to keep on helping as he did. And if the help was asked from her, the better, he would not deny it.

Erza looked at the retreating back of the man until he was out of sight, her feet moving her in auto-pilot towards her classroom as her mind processed what happened and her feelings for the student changed even more now; he wanted to help, he respected her work and was willing to stop doing what he was doing because she ordered him to. But the most surprising, he was going to be more than glad to help if _she_ asked him.

* * *

><p><em>The end of the school period; during the last meeting of the student's council two days later.<em>

Running from here and there, carrying stacks of papers from one member to the other, dropping some on the ground and making the place much more of a mess than what Erza remember it to be the last two weeks; that was the new sight she found inside the Council's meeting room. A picture she saw many times the past years, but that she grew unaccustomed after the past month of carefree meetings courtesy of the pink-haired demon of Fairy High and his good actions.

Picking up some of the papers on the floor, she went to sit at the head of the group of delegates, eyeing the papers on her hands to later address the ones that were in charge with those; telling them that she was going to take care of them and of those from her own classroom to ease the burden. Stopping for a moment when calling for Jellal, since he was in the same classroom as the man plaguing her thoughts now, she could ask a favor of him… one she thought that she would never make.

"Yes, Miss President?" He said innocently hiding his smirk, already knowing what she was going to ask. She let out a tired sigh and crossed her arms in front of her chest, glaring at the azure-haired man when she caught a glimpse of his lips twitching upwards.

"If you have Dragneel's number, call him, I need to talk with him now." He nodded, pulled out his cellphone and turned to return to his seat, winking at the smiling Levy when they crossed eyes. "Hey, Natsu! Busy? I need you here, now!"

* * *

><p><em>The next day…<em>

Eyeing the big building that was Fairy High and its many activity buildings were the student council members plus one pink-haired student, all of them looking at the job that they had to do and expecting their boss to explain what it was to do and who had to do it. She walked in front of the group, turning her back to the building and facing the line of delegates with a sharp stare, narrowing her eyes when she saw Natsu spacing out but shaking her head to nod at the others and explain the "battle plan".

"First and second class delegates are to help the students with the preparations, organize them and provide them with lacking materials; third class students, Jellal, Levy, Natsu and Me, will patrol through the school's hallways and keep everything under control. If there's trouble, search for any of us, today the school's gates will remain open, so troubles like the ones from last year might come again." She meant when Phantom High entered the school grounds looking for the pink-haired standing with them, causing ruckus and breaking everything that the students made for the graduation party; Natsu had the decency to bow in apology for what happened he didn't expect Gajeel and his gang to barge into the school looking for him. "Is everything clear?"

"Aye sir!"

She gave an approving nod and walked out of the way to the entrance, the council members moving to enter the school and do as told while she walked to explain one more thing to the helping hand. Pulling a band from her shirt pocket, she motioned for Natsu to raise his arm and tied it on his arm under his right shoulder; the piece of cloth showing that he was a part of the council too. "You'll go with Jellal for the first period, later with Levy and lastly with me; if you really want to help the school, this is your chance to show it."

And… she walked away with Levy close behind wishing good luck to the pink-haired student, thus, leaving Natsu with Jellal. The azure-haired man turned to smile at his friend and motioned him to move forward with a small pat on the back. "Seems like you are taking this seriously… Erza, I mean."

"Yeah, I guess so, with you guys annoying me every single day it was bound to happen." Jellal chuckled.

"Sorry about that, you looked pitiful…" Natsu shot him a glare, he backed away a little and they entered the school; seeing that Erza took the last floor and Levy the first, they continued forward to the backyard. Opening the door to find students working on different stands around the main field, setting up decorations and the lights that would be used as the parade lasted until late hours of the night. Walking aimlessly for some minutes, Jellal noticed his friend readjusting the band around his arm, loosening it a little and leaving it a little lower on his arm near his elbow; the azure-haired chuckled at that, surely the president strapped it tightly as to make a point. "Too tight?"

"Yeah, a little…" After it was done, they continued to walk, both immersed on their own thoughts as they expected something to do.

Natsu thought about the start of everything, about his freshman year and the first time he talked with the overly enthusiastic woman that was to become president. When they met, he was still in sorrow for what happened with his first crush –Lisanna- and couldn't get out of the depressed state in which he was, even when his friends and her brother and sister told him that it wasn't his fault that she passed away.

He could still remember it, as clear as the sky. It was during the last year of their middle school, they planned a travel to Crocus, the capital of the country, and they bought tickets along with Elfman and Mirajane; trouble was when Natsu and the two older brothers discovered that Lisanna got a ticket for a bus that got out earlier. They wanted to change their own to be with her and not leave her alone, but the rest were already sold out and the young girl asked them not to worry, that she promised to wait for them at the train station there. They nodded to her request and promise, telling her to look after herself while she waited for them to arrive… but it was when they arrived that they felt it, something was wrong, she was not around and she didn't answered her cellphone.

It was after two hours of frantic search that they heard that the bus where she was going had an accident, falling from a cliff to a rocky bottom where the vehicle exploded and none of the passengers survived.

Shattered, the three youngsters felt shattered at the news; Mira locked herself for a week, Elfman disappear for several days and Natsu remained an empty carcass for half a year. Blaming himself for not stopping her from going into that bus, but being brought back to his senses when his friends made him understand that there's no way for him to know what was going to happen. Fists courtesy of Gray and Jellal, some slaps from Lucy and Mira, and one last fists exchange from Elfman, and he was back to his old self… though, some pain remained inside him.

Until he met her.

Bumping into her when walking distractedly to the school building with Jellal talking about his plans of joining the student council and have good grades to enter a good college; she apologized as she was standing in the middle of the road, helping him to get up and pick up his things along with hers.

He was going to start a rant when he met eyes with her.

He stopped.

He wondered what he was seeing.

He wondered if it was just the shock from seeing someone with that hair color or just the fact that it was a girl.

And his mind went blank in the process.

Moving automatically to help him, he accepted the hand offered to him and apologized without losing sight of her eyes, picking up papers and her suitcase from the ground.

He never said more than to answer what he was asked.

Waving a hand when she went inside the school, using it to rub his sore arm when Jellal woke him from his trance…

He just… didn't know what happened… and never did wonder why that was.

Until now.

*Smack!*

"Hey!" Natsu yelled angrily, rubbing the back of his head while his partner laughed at the situation. He knew that his oblivious friend would start daydreaming after a few minutes of doing nothing, and he thought that it was going to be annoying… seems like it wasn't. Watching him change expressions at every moment Jellal supposed Natsu was remembering something, was hilarious, especially when he suspected that the lost gaze and small smile of the boy was because of his memories about the first encounter he had with the woman he was now trying to claim as his own. "What's so funny?"

"You are." And they continued to walk around the field, helping around students here and there until it was time for the pink-haired to change partner, wishing best luck to his azure-haired friend before going inside to meet up with Levy… and fortunately, something more to do regarding his last partner of the day.

Fortunately… was not possible.

The moment he caught up with her, she remained silent and ignored all of his tries to talk, even if it wasn't Scarlet-related, Levy kept her mouth shut the whole period. She knew that the boy wanted her help desperately but that was it, she couldn't help him in every turn and twist, he needed to do things himself too; plus, if Natsu got frustrated and angry, it was more likely of him to talk with Erza without fumbling his words at every sentence.

Thing that she and the others noticed that he needed to stop doing.

First times was cute and amusing, second times was annoying, third times was pitiful; and they all agreed that Natsu deserved better than to be pitied around, especially from the girl he likes.

He needed to be as before, as when Lisanna was around, when he said things without thinking and they resulted lovable and annoying all the same.

The true old Natsu, not this body with different mind that claimed to be their old friend from middle school; they saw right through his lie, he didn't return to his old-self, he just mimicked his same actions but remained his mind careful to avoid getting his heart hurt again. Otherwise, why was he faring well in school? Why did he attach his earphones to his ears when walking from school to home?

He distracted his mind with the school teachings and homework, using music to distract his mind when there was time to relax from school; he even used them when talking with his friends, only attaching one earphone and using the other ear to hear his friends' words. He had a good hearing.

He didn't recover, that was obvious, he never spoke of the matter and he couldn't bring up the name of the younger Strauss sibling without losing what little life his eyes had.

But that changed. Jellal was the first to see it. When Erza Scarlet entered the picture, Natsu was like his old self –except for the fumbling words- and he spoke and acted as he did before the accident.

And they knew exactly was needed to be done.

They all agreed to do it, for the friend that helped them so many times before.

Natsu Dragneel would be together with Erza Scarlet before the end of the year.

"Levy!" She snapped out of her thinking to the sudden call, turning around on her feet to see Natsu running up to her with a hand extended to reach her; she didn't understand first, but when her vision moved upwards and showed her the roof and the stairs that leaded to the second floor, she get it.

She walked straight to the stairs that leaded to the basement and her partner tried to warn her.

But she was so much into thinking that she didn't hear him, thinking that he was still asking for advices or something of the sort.

She closed her eyes and screamed his name, hoping that her friend would be fast enough to stop her fall.

He did, in fact, Natsu felt his blood rushing at incredible speed at the sight of a friend in trouble, moving his body at what was humanly impossible and caught her in mid fall in a tight hug; spinning in the air to get the damage the pink-haired closed his eyes and waited for the crash.

And when Levy noticed, she was on top of an unconscious Natsu, a small amount of blood surrounding his head and staining his shirt while his right arm was twist in a weird angle.

She covered her mouth with her hands.

Her eyes contracted and watered at the sight.

And she screamed again.

**To be continued.**

* * *

><p><strong>Twist!<strong>

**That pretty much resumes it.**

**Stay tuned!**

**Saludos.**

**PS: Does anyone else feels sad because Lucy lose like that? Or thrilled because Jellal is going to fight? Or has an "I knew it" face because of Ren and Sherry? xD FT is starting to amuse me as it did before. If I forget about the pairings, that is. I'm starting to think Jellal is awesome, is that bad? xD  
><strong>


	8. Loki: Wingman

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.**

**I do own the idea for the fic though.**

* * *

><p><strong>My candy.<strong>

_(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I's original fan-fiction story.)_

* * *

><p><strong>Finale: Operation FFAOHC; Part I.<strong>

**(Full Frontal Assault on Hot Chick.)**

* * *

><p><strong>Previously…<strong>

"Levy!" She snapped out of her thinking to the sudden call, turning around on her feet to see Natsu running up to her with a hand extended to reach her; she didn't understand first, but when her vision moved upwards and showed her the roof and the stairs that leaded to the second floor, she get it.

She walked straight to the stairs that leaded to the basement and her partner tried to warn her.

But she was so much into thinking that she didn't hear him, thinking that he was still asking for advices or something of the sort.

She closed her eyes and screamed his name, hoping that her friend would be fast enough to stop her fall.

He did, in fact, Natsu felt his blood rushing at incredible speed at the sight of a friend in trouble, moving his body at what was humanly impossible and caught her in mid fall in a tight hug; spinning in the air to get the damage the pink-haired closed his eyes and waited for the crash.

And when Levy noticed, she was on top of an unconscious Natsu, a small amount of blood surrounding his head and staining his shirt while his right arm was twisted in a weird angle.

She covered her mouth with her hands.

Her eyes contracted and watered at the sight.

And she screamed again.

* * *

><p><strong>And now…<strong>

"What happened?" Porlyusca asked with serious eyes, checking the pink-haired boy lying unconscious on top of one of her beds.

"We don't know! We just brought him!" Jet and Droy, who helped Levy to carry Natsu to the Nursery, responded with frightened voices while retreating towards the door and going back to their original responsibilities. It was a great strain of mind to carry a bleeding guy with a twisted arm to the only person who might be able to help him when you don't have the stomach to even see such thing in pictures.

"He tried to stop me from falling down the stairs…" Levy said while looking down, tears still streaming down her face and a few sobs escaping her mouth.

"Huh, it sounds like something he'll do." Ultear muttered while eyeing her past' best friend hurted body lying on a bed with a bleeding; she was calling for every bit of herself to not jump on top the petit blue-haired to question her further about the incident. And… her sobs and short replies just annoyed her.

"C-can you help him?" Levy asked after a few seconds passed, cleaning her eyes from any remaining tears.

"Sorry, but I can't, he needs specialized attention." Porlyusca answered immediately, turning with a sharp look to her assistant that was quickly understood. Ultear nodded and walked quickly to the phone inside the head doctor's office.

"You mean…"

"Yes, we'll take him to the hospital."

_6 hours later…_

"He's stable now, his forearm is broken because of the fall, it was put back in its original place and casted, he'll have to stay with it for a few months until the wound heals and the bones mend themselves together."

"And his head?"

"Just an open wound on his forehead, nothing more, we've checked and there's no serious concussion or brain damage."

"That's… good… when will he go back home?"

"Tomorrow, he needs to rest here to remain under supervision, nothing serious, just procedure."

"Can I go see him?"

"If you want; visitors' time ends at 6pm, so… you have an hour, miss…?"

* * *

><p><em>A day later…<em>

*Bip! Bip!*

Are you okay, Natsu?

From: Levy

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 18:20

I'm fine, just need some

rest… why?

From: Levy

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 18:24

I… just wanted to say

I'm sorry for what happened!

I never wanted for you to get

hurt! I was distracted, that's all!

From: Levy

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 18:27

It's okay, Levy, don't worry too

much…

From: Levy

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 18:30

But what happened!

You got hurt and might not see Erza

in some weeks!

From: Levy

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 18:33

It's alright… I guess it was bound to

happen…

From: Levy

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 18:35

No reply for twenty minutes…

Levy, don't worry, I'll find a way to

talk with her… don't worry too much,

okay?

From: Levy

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 18:56

* * *

><p><em>Another day later…<em>

So… in bed, huh?

From: Gray

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 20:56

Yeah, being the nice guy has its

ups and downs…

From: Natsu

To: Gray

XX/XX/11 21:00

You were a nice guy?

From: Gray

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:02

Yeah, funny, I AM a nice guy,

droppy-eyes, unlike you…

From: Natsu

To: Gray

XX/XX/11 21:04

Shut up! I'm a nice guy too!

From: Gray

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:06

And only Lucy can vouch for you,

how sad…

From: Natsu

To: Gray

XX/XX/11 21:08

I'm going to break your arm again!

From: Gray

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:10

Come and try, lazy-ass!

From: Natsu

To: Gray

XX/XX/11 21:11

*sighs* Look, Natsu, what are you

going to do with Erza?

From: Gray

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:14

I don't know… I'll just let things go as

always…

From: Natsu

To: Gray

XX/XX/11 21:20

Seriously? You should do something!

From: Gray

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:22

And what do you suggest?

From: Natsu

To: Gray

XX/XX/11 21:24

Tell her that you need someone to

take care of you while you are

recovering. And later try to get things

flowing between you two.

From: Gray

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:28

That's the lamest idea I've ever hear!

And I've read some of Lucy

mushy novels…

From: Natsu

To: Gray

XX/XX/11 21:30

Oh, yeah? I didn't hear you proposing

something by yourself, moron! And

they are not mushy… they are…

well-written…

From: Gray

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:32

Shut up! And who cares?

I won't call her for something

like that!

From: Natsu

To: Gray

XX/XX/11 21:35

Maybe you should! This is the last time

you'll see her, dumbass!

From: Gray

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:37

I'll… think about it… okay?

From: Natsu

To: Gray

XX/XX/11 21:40

Do as you want, I don't care anymore.

From: Gray

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 21:48

* * *

><p><em>3 days later after the accident…<em>

Having followed Levy's plan to the disastrous end of having a wound on his forehead and disabling his right arm for at least 3 months, Natsu allowed himself to rest a little and resume his usual mannerisms of every day; graduation was just about the corner and the Fantasia Parade preparations were ready for the festivity to start right after it. So, he turned off the light, lie on his bed, put his earphones and delivered himself to the wonders that music can do to a tired mind and body. Feeling content enough to feel a smile creeping on his face as he listened to his old-trusty playlist without concern of waking up earlier tomorrow to follow a girl's plan or to someone's advices regarding women.

He had that night for himself and he would be damned if he didn't use it…

*Bip! Bip!*

…though, friends always find the way to screw with you when you feel the most happiest. Opening the lid, he tiredly stared at the one who dared to bother him when he was enjoying himself, reading the name as "Annoying glasses", he immediately recognized who was the one that was about to die.

Natsu! Lucy told me that

u needed a hand with

Erza! ;D

From: Annoying Glasses

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 18:56

Natsu narrowed his eyes at the winking and smirking symbol of the end, feeling annoyed just by imagining the guy doing that exact same face if they were talking personally; he sighed and clicked on 'Reply', typing out his answer with his feelings of annoyance and tiredness obvious enough on the message for that guy to understand that he wasn't in a talking mood, right now. Why couldn't they leave him alone for just one day?

No help, Loki, I'm good.

From: Natsu

To: Annoying Glasses

XX/XX/11 19:00

Just what he needed, another of his friends… well, he wasn't a friend… more like the guy or girl you tolerate because he/she is in good terms with the rest of your team. Anyway. Receiving a message from him was the last thing he wanted, especially now when he already come to terms with his decision about the whole business. Oh, another message.

Come one, man! You know

you need my help! ;D

From: Annoying Glasses

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 19:02

Gritting his teeth strongly, Natsu tried his best to not break his phone against the wall of his bedroom… or with his hands while he typed out his answer; a vein showing itself clearly in his neck as a forced grin appeared on his face.

Loki, my man, I don't

need help. I'm okay!

From: Natsu

To: Annoying Glasses

XX/XX/11 19:05

Come one, man! You know

you need my help! ;D

From: Annoying Glasses

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 19:06

Come one, man! You know

you need my help! ;D

From: Annoying Glasses

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 19:06

Come one, man! You know

you need my help! ;D

From: Annoying Glasses

To: Natsu

XX/XX/11 19:06

Okay. Three messages in a row with the same content were certainly annoying.

And you don't need me to notice that, right?

Natsu clenched his teeth even stronger, his hand clutching the cellphone so hard that the device eventually gave up and it automatically shut itself down to save itself from the scrapyard. The pink-haired sighed at what happened, his surprised eyes for what happened turning into sad ones when remembering his decision with the deal called… E.R.Z.A… Extra Reason for Ztaying Around… Yeah, "Ztaying" goes with an "S" but Natsu just couldn't find a good word to fit the "Z" in "ERZA"… And I didn't find one either.

He was going to drop the subject completely. There was no reason to pursuit anyway, she was surely interested in Jellal and he didn't have something interesting in himself for her to stay with him, it was one of those… how did Lucy call it? One-sided love? Oh! Unrequited love situations, yes.

Sigh.

"Besides… it's not like anyone will care for this, right?" He said in a soft whisper, looking down at the turned-off phone with regretful eyes before looking at the handkerchief on top of his bedside table.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback.<em>

Being a person that did as she was told, the president didn't hesitate to do as the pink-haired boy said and smacked him across the face. Her features going back to normal as she extended a hand down to help the boy stood up, her other hand going to her shirt pocket to hand him a handkerchief for him to clean his bleeding nose.

"Dragneel, right?" She asked him while helping him to stand shakily on his two feet again, withdrawing her hand and showing the one with the handkerchief rather quickly. Natsu nodded with a little movement of his head to avoid staining his white shirt with the red liquid, he took the offered piece of cloth to wipe away the small trail of blood coming from his nose, at the same time his thumb rubbed the sore spot where her fist collided; being that one his left cheekbone besides his nose. She nodded at his answer, walking to lean on the railings next to him, to his left side as she waited for him to finish cleaning himself. "Why were you late?"

"Huh? Ah, that, well…" Natsu stopped his hand for a moment and hesitated to answer, looking at the door intently as if thinking that running away was better than answering her question.

"Don't think of running away, I 'will' punish you if you do." Was her mind-reading statement, already guessing what he was thinking while looking at the door, though, that brought a question from our pink-haired friend.

"Y-you aren't going to punish me for being late?" She shook her head in answer; he tilted his head in confusion. "Why?"

"I'm part of the cause for your lateness; it wouldn't be fair if I punish you for it." She said as a matter of fact with close eyes and crossed arms, surprising the boy next to her with her sense of justice. "But that doesn't mean that you can be this late always."

"I-I know! And thanks…" He said sheepishly, turning to look to the right and avoid looking at her.

"Don't thank me…" She was cut-short before finishing her sentence.

"Sorry then, I won't be late next time…" He said seriously, going to stare back at her with his hand moving to return the blood-stained handkerchief. She looked at him and later at the object in his hand, moving hers to close his hand and push his arm back while shaking her head in disapproval.

"Have you no manners? Clean it first, and then give it back." He blinked twice at her before nodding, moving to save the piece of fabric inside his shirt pocket. "Let's get back before break starts."

"A-aye Pres!" He answered quickly, already walking to the exit with the scarlet-haired girl leading the way.

"My name is Erza, not 'Pres', Dragneel." She said opening the door and crossing it first, leaving the pink-haired boy behind with his eyes wide and mind blank.

* * *

><p>Sigh.<p>

Who knows? Maybe he should give it a chance, but… how? He was certain the phone was broken and that Loki wouldn't continue to pester him with the deal now that he didn't answer…

*Knock knock!*

"Natsu?" Someone said from behind his bedroom door before opening it to reveal a tall man with bright spiky red hair at the other side of it with one hand on the doorknob and a phone on the other one, he looked at his son's lap to see the broken phone and sweatdrop before extending the phone in his hand with a twitching eye. "A friend of yours; please, don't break this one too."

"Don't worry, old man, I won't break it!" Natsu exclaimed, jumping from his bed to grab the phone with his healthy hand, push his father outside and close the door. He knew who was calling and he was sure to take the chance now.

On the other side, his father sighed, a small smile playing its way to his lips while thinking about the reason for his son's anxiety. He shook his head and went down the stairs, he needed some rest after a hard day of work… and school romance wasn't exactly his thing, if experience was something to go by… he could leave his annoying blue-haired female friend with those matters.

'Ah… young people…' He thought idly, turning on the TV to see if there was anything interesting in it as he got comfortable on the couch.

"Hello? Loki?" Natsu asked without a second thought of who might be calling him, already knowing who was.

"No, I'm Elfman, real man don't pretend to know whose calling!" Loki said from the other side of the line, playing Elfman's 'manly voice' with a hearty laugh at the end that was cut short immediately, he meant business… annoying business. "Come one, man! You know you need my help! Blink of eye!"

And another 'annoying' laugh. It took Natsu every bit of his patience to not throw the family phone against the wall; he wanted help now that his head was clear, so, he took a deep breath and voiced his answer. "The 'blink of eye' wasn't needed… and yeah, I need your help… so… what do you have in mind?"

"Oh, I have many things in mind, many of them undressed, but you surely are talking about Erza, right?"

Teeth and hand clenching, forced smile.

"Yeah, I'm talking about Erza…"

"Well, I have her undressed too… and I also have a way for you to get her, but, tell me…" Loki turned serious and it seemed he was really serious right now, if Natsu's good ear didn't fail to notice it. "Did you ever hear or saw how I deal with girls?"

"No… Not much… Why?"

A sigh. "Because I need you to use some of my natural talents with her for this to work…"

"Didn't she shrug you off when you tried to hit on her?"

"That was in middle school!" Throat clearing. Recovering composure. "Okay, now listen, I learned from my mistakes and I learned a bit more about how to deal with her, you just…"

"Did you stalk her?"

"Of course not! Not much anyway…"

"That sounds like a 'yes' to me…"

"Whatever, listen, she likes people that are honest in what they mean… that goes for everyone, but! With potential suitors…!"

"That's an old word to use…"

"As I was SAYING!" Loki yelled from the other side of the line, getting no more smart replies, he continued. "With potential SUITORS, she likes them more when they are themselves."

"And how did you fail then…? Don't tell me, you…?"

"Yeah… I'm not like I show myself to be…" Pause. "Anyway, that's a story for another day… Just be yourself… but to show her that you mean something serious just add 'a bit' of charm to your original character…"

"And just how I'll do that, doctor Heart?"

Laugh from Natsu, silence; let's continue.

"Just give 'hints' in your words that you want her more than just friends or anything, you know, subliminal messages… and done!"

"I still don't know how I'll do that… I told you, I didn't pay much attention to your flirts…"

Sigh. "It seems these are going to be three long days…"

"I can't stay with you on the phone for three days, you know?"

"Then I stay over at your place, right?"

Silence.

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"For three days?"

"Yes."

"For three whole days?"

"Yep! Why not?"

"There are many reasons… Where should I start?"

"Shut up. And there are also many 'white lies' to tell, just say we're studying for an exam to pass this high school year and it's done! Your dad will believe it; he surely knows I'm not that good in school just like you."

"And you are certain of that because…?"

"My brother, Caprico, works with him and they are good friends…"

"Okay…" Sigh and rub of eyes. "It's settled then…"

"Yep! We'll study and get you better with women in three days!"

"Wait! We really need to study?"

"Of course! Don't tell me you forgot about the exam you missed yesterday?"

"I… I…"

"I know you did, and I missed it too… because… you don't need to know…" He was able to picture the grin on the guy's face at the other side of the phone and he didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"I'm sure I don't…"

"Okay, I'll be at your place in an hour; Caprico will call your dad and tell him about it… but not the whole thing…"

"I know your brother is not dumb…"

"Hey! That sounded as you 'implying' that I AM dumb!"

"And if I'm not implying?"

"Then I'll say, 'Good luck with Erza! I'm sure you two will be a great couple when you're both sixty!' got my message?"

Sigh.

"Yeah, I got it…"

"And…?"

Another sigh.

"You're smart, Loki…"

"Thank you! And just to prove it, and to show you my kindness! I'll train you in my best tactic to get women ever made!"

"And that's…?"

"FFAOHC!"

"Fack what?"

"FFAOHC! You know? An Aconymy… Acrony… Acrouny…"

"An acronym?"

"That's the word! Yes!"

"And what does it means?"

"Full Frontal Assault on Hot Chick!"

Silence.

"Yeah, I know it's awesome, you don't have to say it…"

"I wasn't…"

"Okay, Natsu! I need to get my stuff ready! See you in an hour!" The call ended and Natsu sat on top of his bed with his eyes staring at the phone for a few minutes before turning to stare at the sunset outside the window, the sun's light painting the sky with different shades of red that resembled the scarlet he was yearning to see in the past three days… if Loki said that he was ready to go for it, he was going to see it… and maybe every day from then on.

'Just wait… I'll show you why I can be better than anyone else you've ever met!'

"Natsu?" A knock on his door. "Are you done with the phone? There's a show on TV offering one million jewels to the first caller and I really need the phone now to win them!"

Sigh.

"Yeah, I'm done with the phone…"

**To be continued.**


	9. Jellal and Loki: Push and Training

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.**

**I do own the idea for the fic though.**

* * *

><p><strong>My candy.<strong>

_(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I's original fan-fiction story.)_

* * *

><p><strong>Finale: Operation FFAOHC.<strong>

**(Full Frontal Assault on Hot Chick.)**

**Part II: The playboy and the strategist.**

* * *

><p><em>Day 1… 20:43…<em>

"Okay, Natsu, first part!" Loki said enthusiastically to the bored-looking pink-haired, who was lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling; his eyes closing slightly because of the time it was and because of the tiredness he felt after they studied for most of the day before the orange-haired teen decided that it was time to start training Natsu into the 'solemn art' of flirting. "Let's test your normal skills, okay?"

Natsu shrugged, Loki changed his position on the desk-chair.

"Okay?"

Awkward smile, narrowed eyes.

"Okay."

"Good! Tell me, how do YOU approach a girl?" Loki grabbed a notepad and a pen, looking at the boy expectantly to hear and write down whatever he says; the pink-haired felt an eyebrow twitching, was this necessary?

"I just say 'Hi' and start a conversation…" The shades-wearing teen wrote down what he heard and later nodded before throwing another question.

"What do you say to her?"

"I ask her how's she doing… and start talking with her depending on her answer…"

"And if she's willing to talk… what do you do?" Natsu shrugged, his left hand scratching his head.

"Nothing else… I just go with the conversation…" Loki shook his head in disapproval, scribbled what he heard and turned to explain to his friend.

"Natsu, if you approach a girl, you MUST make the conversation… not let it 'go' or 'flow'…" He sighed. "You know, throw topics that might interest her, crack a few jokes, and get to know her likes and dislikes…"

"Yeah, right, as if that wouldn't come up if I just let the conversation flow…" The pink-haired said sarcastically while rising from his lay position and sat indian-style in the middle of the bed, crossing his arms in the process.

"Not at the speed one needs, you're looking for a one-time thing or for something longer?" Loki asked the definite question to know how to train Natsu properly; the pink-haired looked up in thinking, shrugging again after a minute.

"I don't know… the second, maybe."

"Then we'll have to train harder than what I thought…"

"Boys!" A knock on the door. "Time to eat!"

Natsu's stomach grumbled; Loki sweatdropped.

"But first, let's go to eat…"

"Aye sir!"

* * *

><p><em>Day 2… 15:21…<em>

"If she asks for your interests…?"

"I say I'm more interested in hers."

"Yes! And if she questions you why's that?"

"I only shrug and say that's because I want to know her better…?"

Sigh. "No, Natsu, listen; you tell her: 'Because my interest is you.'"

"Thanks but I don't swing that way…"

Sigh. "Natsu…"

"Sorry, it's just that it sounds like something from Lucy's or Levy's novels…" The pink-haired boy said with distasteful eyes; Loki sighed again.

"It might be, but it is better than what you said…" Natsu tilted his head in puzzlement.

"Didn't you say that she likes it better when they're honest with her and themselves?" Loki opened his mouth to say something but decided against it, knowing that the boy had him there.

"Okay, you're right, for now let's make you more appealing for her." Loki moved to Natsu's wardrobe, opening the drawers to check his clothes, the owner of said clothes feeling his eyes twitching at the sight.

"Hey, those are my clothes, you know? And my drawer." The orange-haired didn't hear him; instead, he threw a black tee with a dragon printed in gold at the center towards Natsu, the boy looking at the piece of clothing in surprise before feeling something else fall on top of his head. "Hey!"

"These two should work for now…" Loki said with some pride, smirking at his friend's shocked face eyeing both things on his lap; a black tee and white trousers with two side-pockets in each leg.

"I can't believe you found them…"

"Uh?" The shades-wearing boy asked in puzzlement.

"I lost these a year ago!"

'But they were in your own drawer!' Of course he wasn't going to yell at him for something like that, besides, this is Natsu of which we're talking about. "O-oh… A-anyway, go and try them to see if they still fit, and if they do, I'll check if you need to add something else to the combo…"

"Yeah, sure…" And he left towards the bathroom, leaving Loki to search for more clothes that were worth the try and also for something else to add to the whole picture.

"Now, let's see if we can find a pair of shoes and a jacket to match that shirt and pants." And to the closet he went.

* * *

><p><em>20:01…<em>

"Conqueror of most part of Greece, Asia minor and northern Africa?" Natsu asked with a book in his hands, looking at Loki struggling to find the answer in his mind.

"U-uh… uh…" The pink-haired sweatdropped.

"Come on, Loki, we read this a moment ago…"

"It's just that I don't remember…"

Sigh. "Okay, then ask and test me while you re-read the answers of the questions you missed…" He passed the book to Loki, the boy eagerly taking it and searching in between the different topics for something to ask; finding something, he looked at Natsu with a wide grin.

"King of the Franks during the years of 768 and 814?"

"Charlemagne…"

"Okaaaaay… First emperor of Rome?"

"Julius Caesar Augustus …"

Grunt. "Port city that was the gate to the east?"

"Constantinople."

Growl. "The last member of the Tudor dynasty?"

"Isabelle the First."

Loud growl. "Who was her father?"

"Henry the Eighth."

"Okay! I give up!" He yelled in annoyance, throwing the book back to Natsu, the pink-haired smirking proudly at his progress while Loki crossed his arms and glared at the book now in the boy's hands. "Stupid History…"

"Aw, come on, Loki!" Natsu said with a small chuckle, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's not that hard to learn this stuff, you just have to read it and read it until it sticks to your brain…"

"You saw me reading that like a hundred times, Natsu…"

"If by reading it it's not enough, try thinking about what will happen if you don't know the answer…"

"I'll get a low grade in History… big deal."

"That's not my point; try thinking about something serious to you that might happen if you don't know what's in this book."

"Like…?"

"In your case; you are trying to hit on a smart girl and she rejects you because you don't know History very well."

"As if that could happen…"

"Try asking Gray then, and why did he get better in Literature…" Loki thought about it for a moment, his brain connecting the dots, his eyes widened in shock at the realization.

"…Seriously?" Natsu nodded with full seriousness. "Give me that book!"

* * *

><p><em>Day 3… 14:20…<em>

"Hi!" A cheerful voice said to the occupants of the room, the voice's owner entering a messed up room and inspecting it closer to see several arranges of clothing discarded and three piles of books close to the room's desk; a pink-haired and an orange-haired boy looking at him with tired eyes and books in their hands, the blue-haired boy that entered the room sweatdropped. "It looks like you two are taking it seriously…"

"Of course," Loki said with a long yawn, turning back to check the book in his hands. "We can't fail History if we want to leave Highschool… and Natsu doesn't wants to miss his last chance with Erza…"

"Tch, I told you I'm not sure about my feelings for her, dumbass…" Natsu remarked with a growl, staring at Jellal for a moment before returning his gaze to his book. "Why's Jellal here?"

"Well, Loki called me…" Jellal said as matter of fact, stepping inside the room while avoiding the things in his way to take a sit on the desk-chair. Said guy looked up in thinking before rummaging through his stuff to look for his cellphone, Natsu averting his eyes from the history book for a moment.

"You called him?" Finding the cellphone, Loki clicked a few buttons and after a moment nodded.

"I believe I did… at 10am…" The azure-haired boy sweatdropped again, chuckling uncomfortably at the situation.

"Y-yeah, you said that it was important for Natsu, so, I asked Erza to let me leave earlier today…"

"And she let you?" Both boys asked in surprise, Jellal nodded.

"Yeah, she said that since I finished with my part, I could leave and return for the graduation and the Fantasia…" Both boys stared for a moment before looking at their books again… until Loki grew tired of reading and threw his and Natsu's books towards the piles next to the desk, almost hitting the blue-haired teen in the face. "H-hey! Be careful!"

"Okay, Natsu!" Loki yelled to the pink-haired teen, standing up with a finger pointing at him. "It's time to man-up! You cannot be doubtful about your feelings anymore! So…!"

"Hey! Kids!" A loud knock on the door calmed Loki's rant. "Lower your voices, some people are enjoying their sunday!"

"Sorry, Dad!" Natsu yelled from inside the room, hearing the sound of footsteps going down the stairs, he motioned for the shade-wearing teen to continue.

"As I was saying…" Loki said with his voice lowered, to Jellal's and Natsu's content… and the last's father too. "It's time for you to man-up and stop being doubtful about your feelings, stop being afraid…" He shot a meaningful look at the pink-haired that the guy understood immediately. "So, I called Jellal to remind you of something…"

"Oh! That's why you called me?" The azure-haired asked in surprise. "I thought you wanted me to help you guys with your studies…"

"Well, I called you for that reason too…" The boys in the room sweatdropped.

"Okay, priorities, friends before business;" Jellal leaned on the chair he was sitting and thought about how to start his speech, remembering some things that he deemed important for his friend to know and remember; gathering his thoughts after a few minutes and returning his eyes back to the pink-haired on the bed, the guy flinching at the strong glare his friend was giving him. "Natsu."

"H-hai?"

"Do you remember when we were kids?" The boy looked up in thinking, nodding after a moment.

"Yeah… what about it?"

"Do you remember when Ultear moved out of town?" The pink-haired looked down in thinking before nodding.

"Because I remember you telling me something that might make you slap yourself…" Natsu looked at the side with narrowed eyes, cursing inwardly for saying those words when he was younger.

"I'll never hide my feelings again, especially my feelings towards the people I care about…" Jellal nodded to the words, crossing his arms and leaning back on the chair.

"Exactly, and that's a phrase that we followed to the letter…" Loki moved to sit next to the talking blue-haired man, using his arms as supports to lean back on a kind of comfortable position.

"Yeah… until Lisanna…" Natsu clenched his healthy fist at the memory, making Jellal and Loki frown.

"Yeah, I know, Natsu; shit happens," Loki muttered quietly, remembering a few things about his past. "That's why you should take your chance with Erza, you cannot continue with your whole life grieving for one tragedy, she wouldn't have wanted or liked to see you like this your entire life…"

The other teen just nodded, watching the changes in expression on the pink-haired closely.

Natsu thought hardly about it, he was grieving? No way! That couldn't be, since grieving means to be in sorrow for most of the time, and most of the time, he worried about his life, friends, family and school. Doing homework, helping around the house, going out with his friends and listening music; listening music…

'When I'm alone… I play music to keep me entertain… and…' He frowned at discovering his own subconscious attempt to avoid letting out his pain. 'I hid myself behind the music player…'

He thought about the days after her death, after he was punched out of his grief and returned to 'normal'; when Elfman, Gray and Jellal were over with him and believed he was back to his old self, he went home and sat on the bed in thinking… not liking his memories, he spotted the cellphone and his earphones close.

Putting them on, he entered into a secret denial.

That even he failed to notice.

"Okay, let's suppose –and I remark 'suppose'- that you two are right." Natsu said with a slightly tired voice, looking sideways and avoiding eye contact with his friends, who were smiling knowingly at him. "How do I take this chance -if I really have it- and how the hell can I do something like ask her out on a date or for the Fantasia when I barely talked with her in the past three years?"

"I've got that covered." Jellal said with a small smirk, laying his head on his open palm and watching at his friend's shocked face with a chuckle; his other hand moving up and waving his cellphone in between the two, not Loki or Natsu understanding what he was saying. "Do you guys remember those rumors about her and a student from our class? That silly thing going on a month ago?"

"Y-yeah…? What about it?" Loki asked a little unnerved by the azure-hair's smirk and his 'almost evil' chuckle; the man shrugged, playing with his cellphone a bit to later show something to his two friends, their jaws hitting the ground and their eyes widening like saucers. "I-I can't believe it!"

"You better do." And he chuckled again. "I heard her say it to Principal Makarov once and I just couldn't stop myself."

Erza Scarlet has a crush on a student from

class 3-A! OMG! Tell everyone!

From: Private Number

To: School Acquaintances.

XX/XX/11 17:34

"Y-you magnificent bastard!" Natsu managed to blurt out after reading the message over and over again, not believing its contents; Jellal just nodded and bowed to the insult, feeling complimented.

"Thank you very much, I tried my best." Loki chuckled uncomfortably at the whole exchange, shaking his head to get out of the daze and concentrate on the matter at hand; he turned to Natsu and nodded in his direction.

"Okay, Jellal took care of starting everything, and more importantly! It is true! Which means you have a better chance with her!" He said enthusiastically, getting Natsu off the bed and moving him with the clothes chosen by him to the bathroom. "Get a bath and change your clothes! We'll tell you more when you're over!"

"Do I send her a message?" Jellal asked with his smirk dropping to a small smile, the orange-haired nodded with death seriousness. "Good and it just happens that I know what to say to her."

Erza? Hi, what are you doing?

From: Jellal.

To: Erza.

XX/XX/11 15:11

Jellal. I finished with today's paperwork,

I'm going home.

From: Erza.

To: Jellal.

XX/XX/11 15:13

So you have free time? Great! A friend

of mine wants to meet with you!

From: Jellal.

To: Erza.

XX/XX/11 15:15

I do have free time, but not for playing

around. Who's this friend?

From: Erza.

To: Jellal.

XX/XX/11 15:17

Remember Natsu? He wants to talk with

you. Privately.

From: Jellal

To: Erza.

XX/XX/11 15:20

"She's taking her sweet time to answer…" Loki commented with a sigh, watching his phone's clock to see that almost twenty minutes passed since Jellal's last message. "Are you sure she is interested in him?"

"Of course, I wouldn't have started all of this for nothing, you know?" Suddenly, his phone went off and started to play his ringtone while vibrating; both guys looked at each other before gluing their faces to see the president's answer.

When and where?

From: Erza.

To: Jellal.

XX/XX/11 15:40

"Victory!" Both guys smirked and jumped in happiness at their success –mostly Jellal's success, but who cares?-; they clashed fists, patted their backs and returned to the message with a single thought crossing their minds.

'When and where…?'

**To be continued.**


	10. Jellal and Loki: Fashionably Late

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.**

**I do own the idea for the fic though.**

* * *

><p><strong>My candy.<strong>

_(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I's original fan-fiction story.)_

* * *

><p><strong>Operation FFAOHC<strong>

**(Full Frontal Assault on Hot Chick.)**

**Part III: Fashionably Late.**

* * *

><p><em>Year… Unknown…<em>

_Month… Unknown…_

_Day… D-Day (Date Day, duh)…_

_Hour… 17:45…_

The pink-haired student could barely contain himself, to put it mildly.

In reality, he was a walking disgrace to the male population of the world.

'Why' you ask? That's a simple question, you all see, or read, or something depending on your current situation.

Natsu Dragneel, pink-haired student of Fairy High from class 3-A, has a date.

Isn't that wonderful?

Love, blossoming in the season… wait, it is Fall, how can anything blossom in Fall?

My mistake, dear readers, my mistake.

Let's continue, okay?

Natsu walked down the street, a steady pace as he went against the flow of people crowding the downtown area. It was a busy day even though it was growing late and most persons were out for business or last minute buys. He had to dodge several kids and teenagers, some of them couples that made him blush in embarrassment.

If Loki's plan worked out as the guy said it would, he would be in a relationship by the end of the day.

'_That's great… I just need to concentrate and not screw it up.'_ He thought tiredly, sighing as he had to avoid another person. He searched for his phone in his pockets and pulled it out, seeing the earphones connected and locked in his ears. He flipped it open and saw there was a call in progress, strangely enough. He sighed again. "I don't know how you think this will work, man."

"_Stop being so pessimistic, Natsu!"_ A voice yelled, the sound making his ears go a little numb. _"Just follow the plan and it will all be alright."_

"That's why… this plan…" He looked around him, seeing the people walking without a care, not noticing how strange it was to see someone speaking to the phone from so far. Why would they think that? Oh, because the wires were hidden under his clothes. Why is that? Read the rest of the conversation. "This plan's stupid, Loki."

"_W-what!? No! It is not!"_ The guy growled, sending a virtual glare to the pink-haired, however that is done. _"Listen! Go there and let us take care of everything!"_

Natsu was going to put up another complain but the rustling at the other end of the line stopped him, some voices were heard, more rustling and then another familiar voice made itself known. _"Natsu, chill, it's Erza, she doesn't bite… much."_

The pink-haired shivered momentarily, that is, momentarily. The end of the sentence made an eyebrow on his face quirk. "H-how do you know that?"

He could almost see the charmingly amused smile of the blue-haired guy at the other end of the line. _"Oh, I have my ways."_

"…I will not ask…" If he could only be honest and tell Jellal he was a seriously disturbing freak at times, Natsu was sure the man would just laugh it off and continue to help him, throwing some more freakiness to amuse himself while at it, that is. He composed himself, looked around one more time and continued on his way to the meeting place, his eyes catching a glimpse of the time. He was running short of it. "Anyway, any other advices? You can't expect me to pay attention and listen to her at the same time."

"_Nope, nothing else we can teach you, little grasshopper."_ Jellal answered, laughing quietly at the joke while Natsu rolled his eyes at hearing how bad it was. He shook the phone and asked again, making the blue-haired man get serious, just like he needed him to be. _"No, Natsu, you will be on your own."_

The pink-haired groaned, a droplet of sweat falling from his brow. "T-that's great…"

"_Let me finish… you will be on your own but if you fumble, we will start with Plan B and support you."_

"And what's plan B?" Natsu asked anxiously, he had a really bad feeling about this.

He heard Jellal chuckling amusedly on the other end. Damn that bastard. _"You will see."_

He felt like pointing out how impossible that was but let it slide, knowing he was wasting time with them and avoiding the place where the meeting was supposed to happen. Yes, he got there close to twenty minutes ago, but continued to walk around in the plaza opposite to the small café to sort out his thoughts and quell his anxiety.

Natsu gulped down and nodded to himself in self-encouragement, breathing deeply and walking towards the entrance of the café where he could see Erza Scarlet, the Council President of Fairy High…

…talking with a black-haired man he never saw in his life.

'_What the fuck!?'_ Natsu thought angrily as he witnessed the man of short, spiky black-hair making advances on his love interest. Who the hell thought that guy he was? A player? The pink-haired could feel the cockiness dripping out of him from a mile away and that was saying something.

"Nah, listen now," he heard the man say softly to the scarlet-haired woman, who was frowning at the hand that tried to reach for her forearm. She withdrew it and glared, earning an amused chuckle from the man. "Oh? Okay, no sex in the first date I take it?"

"Sorry, excuse us, move out." Natsu was about to go forward and kick the guy out but he was suddenly pushed out of the way by a blond man followed by a white-haired man, both looking pretty annoyed at the black-hair's audacity and some other things we shall not talk about here. He saw them get closer and stand next to the man, glaring holes through his skull as he smiled to them.

"Finally, guys, where the hell were you?" The man said, ignoring Erza for the moment, who took the opportunity to slide out of the place to another table far away.

The blond man frowned and the white-haired man groaned, bringing a hand to his face. It almost felt as if his eyes were sending lightning bolts towards the black-haired man. "Look, Jag, you can't go and hit on every hot girl you see, ya heard me?"

"D'awww, but I wasn't hitting on her." Jag explained innocently, the shadow of a smile in his face. "I was asking her if she knew any girls with funny eyebrows around the area."

"That's even more stupid." The blond man informed firmly, the sheer coldness of his voice sending shivers down every eavesdropper around and stopping the black-hair's smiling. "Listen to Nova, we're leaving."

"You be no fun, Fran." Jag commented with a small pout, chuckling amusedly when he saw them glaring stronger than before. He brought both arms around their shoulders and turned them towards the exit, where one pink-haired student was standing and seeing everything. "Let's go hit a bar or something, since we're here, we must get shit-faced."

"You? Hit a bar? Bitch wait till you're of age." The white-haired man said plainly.

"Nope, can't be bothered with that faggotry." Jager said, grinning from ear to ear. "C'mon, fags, let's go!"

Nova groaned again, shaking his head tiredly. "You never change, do you?"

Fran sighed tiredly. "Can we at least look for Jonah?"

Jag's face went blank when the door to the café was swung open, his friends blanching out as well when they saw something terrifying by the entrance. Natsu turned around and he seriously had to suppress the urge to piss in his pants.

"Nova, Francis, Jager." A man of blue-hair named them one by one coldly and without emotion, eyeing each and every one of the mentioned guys with dark-blue eyes that seemed to fire bullets at them. He stepped forward, moving past Natsu without touching the pink-haired and stood in front of the group. "Explain."

Nova shook his head quickly.

Francis looked away.

Jager smiled sheepishly, moving one hand to wave in greeting. "S-sup, Jonah?"

The blue-haired man, known as Jonah, narrowed his eyes and stared at the black-hair's eyes, the sheer strength behind his orbs making the man sweat uncontrollably. He sighed and when Jager was about to say something, he brought a fist forward and punched the lights out of the man, letting his dead-weight fall over the blond and the white-haired, who could only remain in shock at the occurrence.

"We are going to the hotel; the plane will take us home tonight." Jonah said firmly, receiving nods from the conscious men. He turned around and headed for the exit, brushing past Natsu and apologizing for bumping his casted arm unintentionally. "Sorry about everything."

The pink-haired nodded slowly, his reply dying before coming out of his mouth since the man left in a hurry. "N-no… problem…?"

"Damn, he was mad." Nova muttered as he carried an unconscious Jager with Francis, groaning in annoyance since the man, even if he looked athletic, was heavy as a boulder. "I've never seen Jonah like that."

"Same, let's be thankful nothing happened to us." Francis whispered back in fright, meeting eyes with the pink-haired student on his way to the exit and stopping, making the white-haired man stop as well. "You."

"U-uh? M-me?" Natsu asked dumbly, pointing a finger to his face.

The blond man nodded. "Yes, you." He glanced around the café and met eyes with a scarlet-haired girl, this one frowning and glaring at him when she noticed he discovered her eavesdropping on the pink-hair's conversation with him. He snorted. "Huh, you should do something."

Nova joined in when he caught wind of what his friend was trying to say. "Huh, I agree."

Natsu looked at the man weirdly, not getting his message, Francis continued. "Huh, you shouldn't waste any time."

Seeing the pink-haired not getting even one bit of the conversation, Nova did his best to hide the chuckles and nudged the blond's side, motioning to Natsu with his head when the blond looked his way. "Huh, somebody can't power up, huh."

"W-what?" The pink-haired asked again, not getting whatever they were saying.

"We mean… your girl is over there." Nova explained for the Fairy High student, smiling both in understanding and amusement when he saw the boy extremely confused after the small comments, pointing to one red-haired Council President who averted her eyes from their conversation when a finger was signaling for her position. He chuckled. "Sorry for Jager, he's an ass some-"

"Most of the time." Francis corrected, earning a nervous laugh from the white-haired and a confused stare from the pink-haired.

"Anyway, yeah, go get your girl, boy." Nova said as he turned around, Francis following his movements and all three men leaving the café before anyone could notice.

"_Natsu…? What happened…?"_ A voice snapped him out of his musings of the origin of the four guys, Jellal asking for his state through the phone made him remember he was inside the café and he had yet to go and say anything to the girl he wanted for the Fantasia. _"Did you go to the café?"_

"Y-yeah, I'm here." Natsu said hastily, breathing out the air he was holding. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, looking around for the mop of scarlet hair one of the strange people pointed out earlier, finding it in one of the tables close to the windows. She looked in his direction and gave a slow wave of greeting that he returned the same way, albeit more dumbly.

"_Natsu?"_ He heard Jellal call for him, snapping him out of his silly waving that earned strange looks from the other customers around him and the girl he went to see. _"Are you with Erza now? Tap the mic if 'yes'"_

The pink-haired decided his friend had too much spotlight for now, so he tapped the mic to lie about his current situation and walked towards the table that would seal his destiny. _"DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUN!"_

"_Loki! Give the phone back!"_

"H-hi." Both guys shut up when they heard their friend talking to someone, stopping their quarrel and putting their own phone on speaker; this was it, this was the moment of truth. He took a seat opposite to Erza and nodded to her, earning a small smile and nod in reply. "H-how are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you." Erza answered curtly, crossing her arms and leaning back on her chair. For what she heard from Jellal, the pink-haired was about to ask her something really important, and if her wild imagination was right, she was in for something sweet. That if the guy could stop fidgeting and looking around nervously. With an almost visible sweatdrop, she coughed on her hand and brought his attention back to her. "Why did you want to see me?"

"U-uh, that… about that… I… uh…" Natsu fumbled. Not even five minutes into the conversation and he was fumbling with his words. Jellal and Loki made an audible facepalm from their position at the other end of the line, not believing their friend to be such a lost case.

"_Okay, time for Plan B."_ Jellal said, nodding in determination.

"_Let's wage war!"_ Loki yelled randomly, throwing a fist in the air.

Jellal stared at him for a second, shaking his head after that and turning to his own phone for the moment. They were using Loki's phone to keep the talk with Natsu opened and so, he had his free to do what Plan B was. Oh, he grinned, if only the others knew of his genius. _"Natsu, listen to this and repeat what you hear, I promise it will help you."_

'_O-okay…'_ Tapping the mic to say 'yes' again, the pink-haired tried to control his nervousness and procured to do as told, but then, he heard music? Rock? No, it was a ballad? What was Jellal thinking? _'What the hell, man?'_ Clearing his throat and deciding it was best to do what he was told to do, Natsu turned serious, surprising Scarlet, and started to repeat what the lyrics said. "I'm here today, for something worth it, you might not like it, but I swear you'll enjoy it."

"W-what?" Erza's face went ablaze. Okay, she was expecting some kind of confession or maybe something more slow like an invitation to go out somewhere for the next few days before the Fantasia but… was Natsu going so serious with her? It made her feel special, yes, after the fiasco with that nurse Ultear and the rumors flying about the pink-haired being interested in Levy… these were wonderful news. _'P-please, don't say you want to marry me tomorrow.'_

Of course, she thought that, yet she was secretly wishing for the opposite.

* * *

><p>"…" Loki remained mute at the lyrics, eyeing Jellal's stupid smile for a moment before snatching the phone from him. He kicked the guy as far as he could and looked through the blue-hair's playlist, turning off the cheesy song he was playing and finding some interesting songs in there that could prove better to seduce the woman. In his opinion, at least. "Oh-ho, this will be fun."<p>

The brown-haired guy picked one song he heard a few days ago and placed the blue-hair's phone close to his, letting the lyrics be heard by Natsu.

With the explanations they gave to the pink-haired, the result was instantaneous and successful.

* * *

><p>"It's 9 o' clock on the dot at the spot and I'm hangin' with her friends again!" Natsu half-yelled to the girl in front of him, startling her and several customers sitting around them with his voice and tone. "Great taste, beautiful place and you're fashionably late!"<p>

"…" Erza stared in open bewilderment at the pink-haired boy, seeing him stand next to the table with his hands pretending to hold a guitar, which he was playing rather strongly. It was also kind of weird with his casted arm, but she remained silent, only wanting to ask him if he was feeling alright, if the nervousness finally caught up to him or something but a finger of his pointed at her face made her stop.

"Hey!" Natsu yelled again, getting close to the red-haired and raising her head to meet his with a hand under her chin. She blushed furiously at the contact and closeness but then stared open-mouthed at what he said next. "I don't wanna be that guy, that makes you sad, that makes you cry again." He let go of her and jumped over his chair, continuing with the air guitar. "Without a doubt, sorry about making out with your friends!" He pointed a finger to the ceiling. "GO!"

Erza's and all the customers' jaws hit the floor.

What the hell was going on?

* * *

><p>"Hahahahahahaha!" Loki laughed without stop on the floor of Natsu's room, not believing his friend to be such an idiot.<p>

"…" On the other side, though, Jellal tried to fight back the urges to laugh as well and picked up the phone, hearing nothing but Natsu repeating what the lyrics of that song said. How was it that the boy didn't notice what he was saying? It was obviously something not to be mentioned to any girl, especially one like Erza.

_"Na na na na na na na na na!"_ He heard the pink-haired singing and snorted, thinking the guy was having a good time and letting him continue, for the sake of having some fun for the shit and giggles later. _"Na na na na na na!"_

Oh, they were going to laugh so much after the pink-haired forgave them for their stupidity.

* * *

><p>"I love the way that this began, started off right, so innocent." Natsu started to 'explain'.<p>

"R-really?" _'How did it start anyway?'_ Erza asked both out loud and in her mind, not getting what the guy was saying.

The pink-haired turned to face her with a regretful glint in his eyes. "I'm letting you know, I'm letting you go, I want your best friend."

The place grew quiet as the red-haired stared in shock, a growl escaping her throat, her teeth and fists clenched and one name appearing in her mind. _'M-Mira!?'_

"I'm giving it up and asking why you seem so shocked and so surprised." Natsu continued, unfortunately, waving a hand in dismissal, he looked at Erza again with some more regret. "I'm sorry it hurts, I'm surely a jerk, I understand why you're mad."

"N-no, I'm not-" She didn't have time to talk, he continued to sing.

Oh god.

"Don't talk that crap when you call me back, as a matter of fact, don't act like that." The pink-haired was accusing her of being a bitch? Seriously? What the-? "Everybody knows you're right, everybody knows I'm wrong!"

He pointed a finger to the customers and they traded glances of discomfort, one of them finding the situation amusing and joining on the singing, since the guy seemed to know the song. "Wrong!"

And it started again, unfortunately.

"It's 9 o' clock on the dot at the spot and I'm hangin' with her friends again!" Natsu yelled as he jumped again and got over the table he was sharing with Erza, further shocking the girl and scaring her a bit. Okay, there was something seriously wrong with the pink-haired. He was having problems talking to her and now he was making a public concert? And what about that of wanting Mirajane over her? "Great taste, beautiful place and you're fashionably late!"

When she wanted to notice, Natsu was next to her, hugging her with an arm around her shoulders and bringing her closer to him. The customers grew far more nervous, the personnel and owners took shelter behind the counter and Erza blushed madly again. Okay, she was mad about the things he was saying but she seriously appreciated the close contact.

"I don't wanna be that guy, that makes you sad, that makes you cry again." The pink-haired student whispered to her ear, sending pleasurable shivers down her spine. "Without a doubt! Sorry about! Making out with your friends!" He kissed her cheek... "Muah!"

...and jumped back to the table, playing his air guitar with more strength than before and ignoring the steaming Erza he left behind, the girl holding her cheek in disbelief. "Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na!"

It was a long and tedious torture, but luckily, before the song could continue, he was forced to a stop.

Not by an annoyed customer or angry owner.

No.

It was a rather angered and embarrassed red-haired woman the one to shut him up for good.

* * *

><p><em>An hour later…<em>

Natsu sat at the edge of fountain alone, looking at his feet with little to no life in his onyx eyes. He was seriously down after what happened, more like after realizing what he did. How he lost control of his actions after being told to do and say what the song said, he had no idea; he only wondered how he was stupid enough to not notice and stop it all before it escalated.

He sighed, slouching further down at his bad luck. He was sure Erza would not want to have anything to do with him anymore.

Hell, it would be a surprise if she were to address him in some cold way or something.

"Fucking perfect…" The pink-haired whispered, kicking a random piece of paper that landed at his feet, seeing it being taken by the light breeze of the late afternoon.

"Wow, you look like shit." He heard a voice say, two sets of steps approaching from his right and looking up, he saw Gray and Lyon walking to his position, both guys looking a bit curious of his state. Since he started the talk and knew the guy the longest, the black-haired man was the one to keep on the conversation. "What happened? Got dumped?"

At his questions, Natsu slumped down even more.

Lyon sweatdropped, resting a hand on his foster-brother's shoulder to get his attention, he shook his head and walked to sit with the pink-haired. "So… does this have something to do with that President you told me about?"

"W-wait a second, he told you about Erza?" Gray asked in disbelief, feeling a bit angry that his best friend/rival would trust more on his brother than him. The two didn't know each other that long and well after all. But that didn't matter; he walked to stand in front of the two and looked at Natsu, frowning at him and his position. "What happened with her?"

The pink-haired gave a short story of what happened.

Gray and Lyon laughed their asses off.

Natsu growled, not liking their reaction to his problem. "What's so fucking funny?"

"O-Oh god, you didn't." Gray said in between gasps for breath, holding his sides from all the laughter. "You did not sing that to Erza, you're shitting me."

In answer, the pink-haired student pointed to the fountain behind him, both guys seeing a pair of earphones and a cellphone drowning in the bottom.

"O-Okay… you did do it…" Lyon muttered awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

"Y-yeah… and she punched me…" He raised his head and let the two guys see the bruise under his chin, the pretty nasty and purple bruise the red-haired girl left him as a 'thank you' gift for the thing he did. He lowered his head and sighed, not wanting to deal with the issue any longer. So many struggles from his friends to get him out of his depression and it all went down… because of the same fucking friends that helped him. Magnificent. Note the sarcasm. "I will just finish high-school and go to college… who knows? I might find someone there."

He remembered one girl who seemed to be interested in him when he was dating Lisanna, what was her name? _'Katsu…? No… wait… that girl whose brother died… Kagura? Yes, that's the name.'_

"Don't bail out yet, Natsu." Gray spat, knowing what his friend was thinking. Like hell he was going to let him retreat and miss the chance of his life. Okay, that made it sound like he was interested in the Council President too, but that was… okay, maybe a little, but he had Lucy and he was happy. End of story, let's continue. "Get yourself together, moron, if those two failed, it's our turn then."

The pink-haired boy sighed tiredly. _'What is it with everyone butting into my things now?'_ He looked at the foster-brothers with him and shook his head, standing up from his perch and walking towards the crowd. "Okay, whatever, let's get this over with…"

Lyon and Gray grinned at each other; they were sure their plan would worth out better than the other two morons' plan. They had a card up their sleeve after all, a last minute encounter they never thought about that went their way and was sure to earn them a victory for their pal.

"Hah, cheer up, Natsu." Lyon said after they caught up with the guy, patting his back in reassurance. "We have the best plan ever."

"Yes, and it's impossible it can fail." Gray commented, smirking confidently. "Unless Erza's tastes have changed, we're good."

"T-tastes…? What do you mean?" Natsu asked after hearing their words, receiving a pair of knowing looks in answer.

"You will see."

**Le continuation here…**

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><p><strong>AN: First off, the song is Fashionably Late by Falling in Reverse.**

**Second, I'm not back, I'm fulfilling a bro's wishes by finishing this story.**

**Third, the next one is the last chapter.**

**Fourth, I won't make a 5k piece of Author's Notes, that's a bit too much.**

**Fifth, saludos.**


	11. Life: Chance

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.**

**I do own the idea for the fic though.**

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><p><strong>My candy.<strong>

_(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I's original fan-fiction story.)_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11: Chance<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Year… Unknown…<em>

_Month… Unknown…_

_Day… F-Day… (No, not F**k you Day, it's Fantasia Day)_

_Hour… 32 before the real day…_

…so that means it is not the actual day of the Fantasia but a day prior to it.

…why couldn't the author just say so?

Because there is a reason to that, that's why.

Now, back to the story, we find ourselves in the middle of Magnolia's boulevard, following a quintet of guys as they make their way through the bustling people towards many destinations that were of their interest. Namely, get to spend some time together before the Fantasia while helping one pink-haired moron into hooking up with one scarlet-haired beauty, with temper problems.

Coughs, that is the truth, everybody.

"I remember seeing that place around here…" Gray murmured as they kept on walking down the sidewalk, hands in his pockets and eyes focused on the signs of the stores to their left. Loki was texting someone with his phone, Lyon was walking with nothing interesting to discuss, Jellal was reading a small book with no title on the cover and Natsu was in the middle of the group, groaning tiredly at the whole charade.

What was the point of all this?

"This is stupid, why are we even here again?" Natsu asked aloud to the group of teenagers with him, gritting his teeth together and wondering why the hell they were still trying to help him when everything already went to hell the day before. Seriously, didn't they know when to quit?

"Duh, we're all here to discuss the next course of action." Gray explained after surrendering in finding that particular store he saw the other day. The group stopped and made a circle with all eyes focused on the pink-haired. "We can't have you lose your last chance with Erza."

"I already lost it, guys, there's nothing else I can do…" He sighed tiredly, and the others did too, but for different reasons.

"Look, we still have today and tomorrow," Jellal explained with his eyes returning to the book in his hands. He was preparing himself for college and couldn't miss a single minute of his studies. He couldn't leave his friend alone either, and that is why he's following the others in this last attempt of theirs. "Graduation was not much of a chance… except for you to apologize, which you wasted because of your nervousness," he regarded the pink-haired with a side-glance and continued. "So, we need to make sure everything goes according to plan tomorrow."

"And what's today then?" Natsu asked in cluelessness, already having an idea of what they were plotting.

"Easy enough, we make ready." Loki crossed his arms and nodded firmly. "You can't go to war unprepared, so we'll spend today in making you the man Erza wants."

"You do know that college is just around the corner, right? What's the point of getting us together when there's no much time to enjoy afterwards?" Oh, if only he could have the same vehemence when talking with the woman, their friends wouldn't even need to think about helping him.

"Yeah, we know." Lyon told him, speaking for the first time since they met a few hours ago. "We also know, thanks to Jellal here, that she's going to the same college as you and the rest of us."

"W-what?" Natsu stared at the smugly grinning face of his best friend in surprise. How was it that he always seemed to know everything?

"Yeah, Macbeth, a friend of mine, told me about it." Jellal explained with a carefree wave of his hand. "He's part of the Committee and is in charge of receiving the new students next year."

"I-I see…" Okay, that more or less settled it.

"You can get her now and use the few months of vacations to know each other more before getting into college." Lyon summarized for the entire group, especially Natsu. "If it works, good for you, you'll have a sexy and intelligent girlfriend during college… and if it doesn't," he shrugged nonchalantly. "It's cliché but as they say, there're many fishes in the sea."

"Is that supposed to encourage me?" Natsu asked with a small sweatdrop, not understanding why they were helping him then. Wasn't it better to leave him be and solve his problems by himself? He could always try again at a later time, right?

"There are many guys waiting for the right moment to get Erza, Natsu." Jellal said as if reading his thoughts, which further creeped the hell out of his best friend. He flipped to the next page of the book and continued. "If you don't take your opportunity now, you won't have any hope against the others in college."

"U-uh… is that so…?" The pink-haired man asked dumbly, seeing his group of friends nod firmly in answer. "O-oh…"

"Yeah, I have guys asking me for Erza's number all the time, y'know?" Loki explained as he brought his phone out for the others to see. There were twenty unread messages in his inbox and all of them started the same way. He clicked on one and read it aloud. "Loki, a perfumed message to my good friend, I know it's too much asking but can you give me the number of the beautiful Scarlet?"

"S-so it's true then!?" Natsu asked in shock.

The brown-haired playboy only nodded to his question with a bored expression.

"Yeah… especially this guy whose message I just read… Ichiya Vandeereich Kontortionist." He revealed, badly, the name of the guy and typed a bit more, going through some old folders and showing another batch of messages. "There was also this guy… uh… Simon Pickasushi… he stopped sending messages last year." He saved the phone in his pants' pocket and gave a reassuring smile to the pink-haired. "I didn't answer any of these guys messages after hearing you were interested in her from Gray, so, consider yourself a pretty lucky bastard."

"O-okay… thanks…?" He nodded unsure of what to think of the new piece of information.

"Get yourself together, man, tomorrow is the last chance for this to work and you cannot blow it like the last times." Gray crossed his arms and nodded, giving a sharp scrutinizing look to each one of the guys with him. "We'll not let it go to waste; we'll make sure Natsu gets her tomorrow by all means necessary!"

"Yes, sir!"

'_T-They are more eager than I am…'_

Unbeknown to them, at the other side of the boulevard, hidden in the middle of the crowd and shielded from view because of the trees in the middle of the street, a group of five girls was also going through a last hour planning. Especially now that things were getting nowhere with the guys and their plans to help Natsu get together with their friend; it was time to take the matter into their own hands.

"Jeez, these guys are morons, they wasted the last two months like nothing and got to nowhere in the end." Lucy grumbled for the umpteenth time of the hour, grabbing the sides of her head to make her point clear. Behind her, Mira was listening to her rambles, Levy was chuckling nervously, Erza was immersed in her own thoughts and… "Aside that, I still don't know why Juvia is here with us."

"Juvia wants to find something pretty to wear tomorrow too." The blue-haired from Phantom High explained with a monotonous voice, looking to the side with a small blush when remembering her reason to do so. "Lyon asked Juvia to go with him to the Fantasia in Fairy High."

Lucy titled her head to the side in confusion. "Eh…?"

"The Fantasia is a Fairy High event but it allows people from other schools to attend." Levy explained without missing a heartbeat, standing next to the blond girl with her usual happy attitude. "Gray invited Lyon and Lyon invited Juvia, so she's going to the festival."

"Isn't that sweet? We're doing just that so I told her to come along." Mira added to the girl's explanation, beaming a thousand-watts smile to deter any other comments from the blond girl. She knew Juvia thanks to the yearly competitions held between schools, befriending the girl from the rival school and adding her to the group of friends she had in Fairy High. "She's really nice and trustworthy so I asked her to come with us."

"O-okay…?" The blonde replied somewhat taken-aback, seemingly unable to argue anything with that smile thrown her way; she sighed and let the issue aside, stopping the group to discuss it completely, looking at Levy first and taking from where she left off when speaking about the main trouble they were facing before leaving high-school completely. "Back to the topic though, Levy almost had it done with her three steps plan but… well, it didn't work."

"Y-yeah, sorry about that…" Levy whispered quite sad, not fond of remembering the injuries her friend got in an attempt to save her from breaking her skull against the floor. Though, with how Natsu risked himself at that time, she was now more determined in getting him together with Erza. "I-It doesn't matter, Lu-chan! We still have tomorrow to work it out!"

"Yep, she's right, we still have the Fantasia to get Erza and Natsu together." The white-haired beauty reminded them, casting a questioning look to the blue-haired girl from Phantom when this one raised her hand to speak. "Yes, Juvia?"

"Juvia wonders… why are you speaking of your plans in front of one of the people that shouldn't know about it?" Juvia asked in mild cluelessness and worry, casting a nervous look to the frowning red-haired woman standing next to her.

The girls just chuckled at her question.

"Oh, Juvia, that's because she's not listening to anything we're saying now." Lucy explained to her, pointing a finger at the Council's President with a grin of amusement on her face. "She's so immersed in her thoughts that we can continue our plotting without any worries."

"Uh? Is that so?" The girl asked and she got a nod in answer from all the girls, turning her deep blue eyes to look at the red-haired woman and find, with much surprise, that she really wasn't paying attention to the discussion around her, even if she was the main center of the discussion, and also, even if the main topic included getting her together with a boy. "Oh, you're right, she's not listening."

'_What was wrong with him?' _Erza thought with a frown on her pretty face, glaring at the floor beneath her when remembering the words spoken/sung by Natsu when they met at the café the day before. It started as she expected it to start, the guy was fumbling with his words and couldn't utter a single complete and coherent sentence in front of her, but then, he started to talk to her clearly and was saying things she wanted to hear… cough, things she found more suitable for their meeting, yes. _'But then it took a complete turn to the worse and he started to speak as if we've been going out for months and going downhill…'_ Her eyes narrowed. _'What's the meaning of this?'_

"If I'm right, and I'm sure I am, she's surely going through what happened yesterday in her mind." Mira told the girls amusedly, giggling lowly when she herself remembered what the guys told them what happened when Natsu met Erza and Loki took charge of helping the pink-haired out. "I still can't believe Natsu did that."

"One would give him more credit since he's always aware of what he's listening to… but I guess he was really nervous in front of her." Shaking her head after laughing quietly at the guy's misfortune, Lucy straightened up and led the way again, more confident and determined in helping her friends out now that they only had one last attempt to get them together. "Doesn't matter though, we'll make sure they're together by the end of the day tomorrow."

"Uhm… can I ask how all of this began?" Juvia asked meekly to the white-haired woman next to her, not knowing much about the issue but feeling like giving a hand. Mira tilted her head her way and got to explaining, not missing her smile while doing so.

"It all started three years ago when Jellal noticed how Natsu stared at Erza whenever she was around, or did they meet at the entrance of the school?" She pouted and looked up in thought, bringing a finger to her chin.

"I heard Erza bumped against him at the entrance of the school the first day of classes." Levy said to the girls, overhearing the conversation and adding her own information. "She apologized to him and he stared at her without saying anything for like… ten minutes."

"Didn't Jellal say he stared at Erza like a dumbfounded fool for five minutes?" Mira asked a bit troubled, not remembering the story well.

"I think they were late and were hurrying to the premises of the school… that's why Erza bumped him in the first place." Lucy said absentmindedly, looking through the wide variety of clothes showcased in the stores' windows. "She picked her stuff with Natsu helping her while answering to her words like a robot, and then waved dumbly when she rushed again."

"Oh… and then Jellal smacked him to get him out of his daze." The girls giggled at the story but Juvia could only think about something that was slightly off with the story.

"You say this started three years ago?" So she voiced it out, out of curiosity more than anything. She wanted to understand the story well before daring to join the others in their crusade. "Why are you trying to get them together now?"

"Oh… that…" Mira voiced out sadly, making the group stop and look at her with worried glance that weren't missed by the blue-haired girl. "Natsu was still getting over my sister's… accident…" She took a deep breath and continued with a somewhat normal smile, trying to keep herself together. Even if it was a long time ago, she still got sad when remembering about her little sister's fate. "They were going out and after that… Natsu was crushed, like my brother and I or more… he closed himself to the world and went on as if nothing had happened."

"He behaved really different from how he was, honestly." Lucy interjected for her friend's sake, knowing that it was a pretty sore subject for the white-haired to talk about. "Like… more quiet and detached… barely speaking to anyone… sans Gray and Jellal."

"Oh…" Juvia nodded in understanding, frowning at the sad little story she was hearing.

"Yeah, and then when we got to high-school, he met Erza and he suddenly went back to normal." Levy added with a small smile, remembering the day Natsu started to behave like boisterous and annoying little brat he used to be. She nodded to herself and looked at Juvia with a fist closed in determination. "So we realized right then and there that he needed to get together with Erza, so he could be himself again and love like he used to."

"As cheesy as it sounds, it is true, that's why we're helping him… and her now." Lucy smiled to the blue-haired girl who continued to nod as she got the information and went back to leading the group through the sidewalk and people. "If they get together, the better for the two, so that's what we're doing now."

"I see." Juvia nodded when the story finished and got into thinking, noticing that Natsu was slightly like her. At least, that's what she thought when Mirajane got into details and told her about the pink-haired's strange habits of muttering the red-haired's name at times when thinking or gazing at her longingly from afar. Almost the same as her previous habit of following Gray around after they met, except for the creepy stalker part, so that only made up her mind more. She made a fist of determination too and looked at the group confidently. "Yes, Juvia will help you in getting them together! For Natsu-san's sake!"

"Uh?" And just like that, at the loud mention of the pink-haired's name, Erza snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the group, wondering why they suddenly went quiet when she finally spoke after an hour of being silent. Mira was smiling sweetly, Levy and Lucy were sweating bullets while keeping shaky smiles and Juvia, the girl from Phantom, was frozen in place with a fist raised mid-way. She blinked a couple of times and asked. "What is it with Natsu?"

"N-nothing! We were just…! Just…!?" Levy tried to come up with a reasonable excuse but her mind was scared of the stern gaze the woman had at the moment, so she turned to Lucy. "W-what was it, Lu-chan?"

"E-eh!? I-I don't remember!" The blonde spoke quickly, averting her gaze from the now piercing brown eyes of the Council President.

"We were telling Juvia of what happened yesterday with Natsu, Erza." Mirajane cut in simply, smiling sweetly to her friend when her eyes fell on her. Unlike the rest of the crew, she was unfazed when Erza narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She chuckled to add more credibility to her lie. "It was pretty funny when he started singing that song at the café, don't you think?"

"…no, Mira, it wasn't." Erza replied sternly, hastily making her way forward to sightsee the rest of the shops. Her main reason to do so was so to hide the slight blushing of her face when remembering the kiss to her cheek given by the shameless pink-haired student. She had to admit, he had guts for pulling that on her, especially when making a show in the middle of a public area. _'The tone of the song was catchy too.'_ She bobbed her head back and forth at the rhythm she remembered Natsu singing. He was pretty good at it, another thing she had to admit. _'Na na na na na na na na na~.'_

* * *

><p><em>2 hours later…<em>

"Man… I'm beat…" Natsu wheezed out after finally leaving the store in which Loki got his things for the next day. In fact, he was the only one of them who actually bought something for the Fantasia, whereas the others only tagged along and chatted about random things while the brown-haired tried out different outfits.

Now, they were at the same café Natsu attended yesterday, sitting on one of the tables outside with their little group now enjoying a break from all the walking and buying, with Loki being the most happy of them all.

"Neat, they had the suit I asked for." The man himself beamed when looking inside the bags he carried with him, pulling out a red tie, a white dress shirt and a black tuxedo to show. He ran a hand through his hair and styled it backwards, the same hair going back into place despite his attempt. "I only need to get my hair done and the killer machine will be ready~."

"Many will die, yeah, of a laughing fit." Natsu mocked lowly, grinning with Lyon chuckling at his joke.

"Anywho, what else can we share with lil' Natsu here?" Loki asked aloud, making Natsu shut up, Lyon to sit straight, Gray to think of something… and Jellal to continue reading through his book. He raised his arms in exasperation and sighed tiredly. "I already taught him a lot of stuff and he failed… so we're obviously missing something."

"Jellal?" Gray looked at the blue-haired man and saw him raising a finger in the air to give him some time, reading the last sentence of a certain page before using a random napkin to mark his progress. "What did Loki say to Natsu the other day?"

"He basically gave him a quick course on how to be like him." Jellal said and looked at the pink-haired and brown-haired sitting on opposite sides of the table. He folded his arms over his chest and leaned back. "So it's no wonder Natsu didn't manage to do anything."

"Hey! My method is the best!" Loki yelled in defense.

"Yeah, for guys like you, but here we need to think of something fitted for Natsu." He released one of his hands and motioned to his friend with a thumb. "He's the average idiot who fumbles when speaking to the girl he likes,"

"Hey!" Natsu yelled a bit offended.

"He obviously needs something more adequate to his personality than what you shared with him." He sighed and stared at the table with a serious expression. "A direct approach of sorts that can stop with his fumbling…" His brown eyes glanced at the foster-brothers. "Any suggestions? Gray?"

"Uh? And what the hell am I supposed to say?" The droppy-eyed student asked a bit nervous.

"I don't know, some experience maybe?" Jellal waved a hand in the air to make his point. "Like… how did you get Lucy to date you?"

"W-what!?" Gray blushed slightly and stared in bewilderment at the blue-haired, seriously not believing the question. His expression got even worse when he saw the others waiting patiently for his response. "I'm not sharing any details, assholes!"

"Okay, no need to yell." The level-headed student glanced at the other brother and saw him go stiff when figuring he was next on the questioning line. "Lyon?"

"I-I… I didn't have to do anything, honestly…" The white-haired guy answered sheepishly, staring at the ground in between his feet with a hand scratching his head nervously. "I only asked Juvia out and she said yes."

"I… see…" Jellal murmured in slight awe, blinking a couple of times before sighing and looking at the pink-haired youngster that was laughing at the expressions made by Bastya and Fullbuster. He stopped when the blue-haired coughed on his fist to call his attention and sit straight to listen carefully. "So, that leaves me… okay then…"

The guys stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the Council member in surprise.

"Wait…" Gray.

"You had a girl once?" Lyon.

"Who was it?" Loki.

Were the questions asked by the guys mentioned above and Jellal only smirked in amusement.

"Oh, you don't need to know." He chuckled when the others glared in his direction but paid them no mind, right now, his goal was to help his friend. So he continued where he left off. "And that's not on what I'm basing my words, you see, I know Natsu so I can tell what he's being doing wrong all along and it was one thing and one thing alone." He titled his head to the side when looking at his longtime friend and smirked again, a bit more evilly this time. "Tell me, Natsu, if I call you a moron, what do you say?"

"You're a prick." Natsu replied almost instantly, frowning at the insult made by his friend, who only laughed at his rebuttal.

"See? That's what you've done wrong with Erza." The guys exchange glances among each other and then looked back at the smirking blue-haired student, not understanding one bit of his explanation and demanding a better one. Jellal brought a hand to cover his mouth to calm himself from laughing out loud and continued. "Whenever you're with her, you think of your answers, Natsu, and that's what has you fumbling or stuttering."

"Uh?" Was Natsu's reply… along the other guys; they seriously couldn't understand what the guy was trying to tell them.

"Remember that one time you got late to school and she hunted you down for that?" Natsu nodded slowly, grimacing at the memory with a slight pain in his legs. He never ran so hard in his life before. "Well, there you go, she told me you two had a very good conversation after everything was cleared," the guys looked at the surprised Natsu with equal surprise on their faces. "From what she told me, she asked you pretty simple questions and you answered them without a bit of a stutter."

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><p><em>Flashback…<em>

"So, what do you do?" Erza started after they got all the things the pink-haired dropped on his escape from her. "Besides school, I mean."

"Eh?" Natsu turned his head to look at her, her eyes were fixed to the road ahead. "Well, not much, I listen to some music and go out with my friends…"

"Any band in special?" She continued a bit interested in the subject.

He looked up in wonder.

"Nah," and shook his head. "I like a little of everything… and you?

"I see," she nodded with a small smile. "Same as me."

"Ah…" He shut his mouth after that. Erza eyed him from the corner of her eyes, almost rolling them at noticing that she would have to continue the conversation.

"And," Natsu turned to look at her again. "Who are these friends with whom you go out?"

"Uhm," The pink-haired student raised a hand to count them. Don't mistake him, he had plenty of friends; it's just that he goes out with those he was more acquaintance with. "I mostly go with Gray, Lucy, Jellal and Levy…"

"It's strange then, that we haven't crossed our paths before," He gave her a questioning look and she turned to look at him with her explanation ready. "I hang out with Lucy and Levy after school too, sometimes."

"Ah yeah, that," Natsu started sheepishly, scratching the back of his head at remembering why they never found each other outside Fairy High. "Lucy doesn't want Gray and me when she's out with her friends, says we're too childish or something like that."

"Figures, I've heard of your meaningless quarrels before." She commented with a bland frown.

He laughed nervously.

"Y-yeah, but that's mostly Gray's fault," the pink-haired tried to explain. "He doesn't know how to take a joke."

"Even if you're not the one to start it, you're at fault for following his lead," His face dropped at the truth, but her next words made him look at her incredulously. "But I cannot blame you; I used to be the same with Mira."

"Mira? You mean Mirajane?" She nodded.

"Yes," Erza gave him a victorious look, almost gloating at her next words. "But it was a long time ago, when we were kids."

"O-oh, I-I see…"

_End of the flashback…_

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><p>"Oh damn… you're right!" Natsu's jaw fell to the floor after remembering the conversation.<p>

"Yeah, I am, and that's why I tell you now." Jellal took his book again and opened it in the page he left the napkin on, restarting his studies after getting his point across. "You don't need to think hard when trying to talk with Erza, just answer her honestly and you'll win."

"…that's the same fucking thing I told Loki!" Said brown-haired teen laughed nervously when the pink-haired glared in his direction, looking for help from Gray and Lyon but finding them talking with a waitress to ask for something to eat. "You son of a bitch, I knew I had to keep it honest."

"O-oi, in my defense, you didn't!" Loki pointed a finger at the aggressive teen and backed a bit from the table, feeling the hostility in the air. "I-I mean, Jellal had to remind you of it!"

"Shut up, moron!"

"They're pretty noisy down there." Levy told the other girls in the table, trying to find the guys who were making a ruckus in the first floor of the café while Lucy, Juvia and Mira double-checked the clothes they bought earlier. Erza was still thinking of something but she did buy a few sets to try for the Fantasia. "I wonder who it could be."

"I got this pair back in the last store!" Lucy showed to the other two, completely missing the petit girl's comment, a white and fine pair of jeans that were supposed to stick close to her curvaceous legs. She smiled giddily when imagining it with the rest of her outfit, and Gray's reaction would to it. "I can't wait to see his face!"

"Juvia already has something to wear, so she bought a few extras to give a better impression." Juvia, if you didn't notice, informed the blonde with a small smile, blushing slightly when imagining what the white-haired teen from Lamia High would say to her when they meet. "Juvia's heart is racing in anticipation!"

"Oh I love this song." Mira blurted out of the blue and out of the topic of conversation, closing her eyes to focus on the lyrics of the slow tune that was playing on the speakers of the café, hearing the singer's soothing tone and the simple yet harmonic strums of the guitar. "Who kicked a hole in the sky so the heavens would cry over me~?"

"I know that song!" The blue-haired girl, the shorty one, beamed after hearing the lyrics sung by the white-haired beauty, closing her eyes as well to enjoy it. "I used to listen to it all day when it came out."

"Hm-hmm." The other listener was too occupied with listening so she barely registered the words.

"It would be beautiful to hear it completely, without those annoying guys yelling down there." But Erza, who just finished going through her thoughts in favor of enjoying the afternoon with the girls, did hear what Levy had to say, and she was a bit miffed by the loud voices resonating in the lower floor. She stood up from her seat and walked towards the railing that gave view to the first floor, glaring at the two individuals fighting in the middle of the shop. "Hey! Stop that! You're disrupting the quietness!"

"G-ghh!" Natsu dodged a punch to his face and tried to back away when Loki moved to grab him by the collar, failing to do so when he heard someone else yelling at them and now having the guy pulling from his scarf. He clenched his teeth in annoyance and brought a foot up to the brown-haired's face, trying to push him away while shouting his answer. "H-hey! I'm not the one who started it!"

"Y-yeah, you did, moron!" Loki yelled back, pulling harder from the guy's scarf and trying to get his foot out of his pretty face. He stopped though when, in between their movements, he got a look of the person asking them to stop. He froze. "E-E-E-Erza!?"

"U-uh!? E-Erza you say!?" Natsu froze as well and turned around, his eyes glancing towards the second floor and meeting the Brown eyes of the scarlet-haired Council President he embarrassed the day before. His jaw fell to the floor and his leg made a final push that ended up with Loki being stamped to the floor with a hard crash that knocked him out. _'O-oh crap!'_

"What are they-" The group of boys by the table looked up from their points of interest and glanced at their friends in the middle of the café, their eyes growing wide in shock when they spotted the girls looking down towards them by the railing. "O-oh… they were here…"

"Wait… that's not important." Jellal blurted out quickly to the foster-brothers, closing his book with a thumb to mark the page and giving the situation between Natsu and Erza his full attention. He stared intently with anticipation. _'Come on, Natsu, remember… don't think and you'll win.'_

"T-the boys are there." Lucy whispered in shock, finding Gray, his foster-brother and Jellal sitting in a table not far away from the previously brawling Natsu and Loki.

"A-and Lyon is with them." Juvia felt her heart racing more at the sight of the white-haired teen, whom only waved a nervous hand in greeting.

"Looks like we didn't see them enter." Mira concluded with little interest, her focus remaining on the pair they were trying to get together since two months ago. Her blue eyes went to the table again and she saw Jellal staring intently at the form of his friend, waiting anxiously for something. She giggled in her mind. _'Oh? Did you find a way for Natsu to finally do it?'_

"N-Natsu?" Erza spoke nervously, the hint of a blush tinting her cheeks at the prolonged eye contact between the pink-haired student and her. She spent the last three hours thinking about him and what he did and here he was now, in the same building as her and just a few meters away from her. "W-what are you doing here?"

"W-what? M-me? I-I… I was…" Natsu started out lamely, suddenly feeling nervous and stammering his answer.

'_C'mon, Natsu, you can do it.'_ His friends thought encouragingly, even Loki who was beneath the pink-haired, while the girls could only frown in disappointment at the situation. The same as always, it was happening again. _'Poor Natsu…'_

"I-I was… doing… this… and that…" Natsu continued to fumble with his words, his eyes now traveling everywhere inside the building and going through the faces of all the people present that were staring at his nervous form. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes met those of his friend Jellal, the other teen nodding firmly in his direction in hopes of encouraging him.

"_You don't need to think hard when trying to talk with Erza, just answer her honestly and you'll win."_

'_Calm down, don't be scared… remember what he said.'_ The pink-haired student thought slowly and clearly, easing his nervousness in a matter of seconds. He blinked to adjust his eyes and took a long deep breath, heaving it out in a swift sigh before looking back towards the scarlet-haired girl standing on the second floor. _'Be honest and you'll win.'_

"I-I was looking for you! Yeah! That's it!" Natsu yelled loudly enough for everyone to hear, his actions surprising his friends and freezing their movements for what was about to come, even Erza took a step back in astonishment. He finally overcame his nervousness, it seems. He pointed a finger at the Council President and followed through with what he was burning to say. "I wanted to apologize for yesterday and ask you to come with me to the Fantasia!"

After that was said…

All eyes fell on the scarlet-haired woman who remained speechless at the sudden outburst of the pink-haired.

Her mind blank for a moment, when she finally came to, her face went ablaze at repeating the words she heard.

* * *

><p><em>A few minutes later…<em>

"So… will you go with me? Tomorrow, I mean." Natsu asked again after they were outside the café. Due to the loud yells, the fighting and many other things that also included the breakage of some chairs, glasses and etc., they were asked to leave _nicely_ and never return there again.

"Y-yea – I-I mean, yes, I will go with you." Erza replied shyly, still trying to overcome the new embarrassment brought upon her by the boy who had her affections. Seriously, everyone looking at her… it was a miracle she didn't yell out loud. She nodded slowly to the now grinning Natsu and lowered her head a bit, trying to hide her flushed face. "I-I will send you a message later with the address and time… okay?"

"Yush! Sounds good to me!" The pink-haired replied instantly, now following Jellal's words to the letter. Don't think and be honest; simple and effective. He gave one last grin to the girl and turned around to meet up with his friends by the fountain, waving a hand in goodbye. "I can't wait for tomorrow! See you later, Erza!"

"S-sure! S-see you later, Natsu." She replied slowly, now raising her head to see the departing young man be greeted by his friends, the guys punching his shoulder to congratulate him or simply nodding in approval. She smiled when her eyes caught sight of his still grinning face, remembering that grin to be the same she saw when they first met three years ago.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback…<em>

"A-again, sorry for running into you." Erza Scarlet, new student of Fairy High, said to the pink-haired teen that helped her get her things from the floor. She was so nervous the night before that she almost fell asleep that morning, which prompted her to take a quick dash towards the institution. She didn't watch her steps and she eventually rammed another student on her way, her things falling to the floor after the collision.

"Don't worry, it was nothing." He helped her pick her things from the floor, with his blue-haired friend watching the exchange mutely, and was now standing in front of her with an understanding smile. "You were getting late, right?"

"Y-you could say that, yes." She nodded slowly out of shame and gazed at the ground, finding it more interesting at the moment. "I didn't hear the alarm and-"

"Told you, don't worry." Natsu repeated after a small amused chuckle, grinning widely to the scarlet-haired girl he just met. Erza stared in trance at the merry face of her helper/unfortunate victim. She never saw a more vibrant grin before. "Happens to all of us, so no need to apologize too much."

"O-Okay… if you say so, okay." Erza nodded a bit more determined now, trying to get out of her trance, and was going to introduce herself to the kind boy that helped her if not because the school's bell rang and signaled everyone to go inside. She turned around with lightning speed and dashed towards the entrance, now remembering and fully experiencing her earlier nervousness. "S-sorry! I have to go!"

"Yeah… no problem…" The pink-haired replied in a bit of a daze, staring at the departing form of the girl even after she got into the building, his mind now trying to process what the hell happened. He wasn't sure how, but just now, his mind just went on auto-pilot and- "Ouf! Hey! What was that for!?"

"Stop gawking and move, Natsu." Jellal said after punching his friend's arm, doing so to get him out of his bafflement. He witnessed the whole exchange in awe; there was no way the others would believe him when he told them of this. He chuckled when the pink-haired glared at him and made his way to the entrance at a steady pace. "The bell rang a few minutes ago; we have to get inside before we get scolded for being late on the first day of school."

"Yeah yeah, whatever, you still didn't need to punch me, idiot." Natsu growled out as he followed his friend to the entrance, using one hand to rub his sore arm while his mind still replayed the entire scenario that just happened, the girl's face and most notably, her unique hair color, standing out in his mind. _'Who is she?'_

_End of the flashback…_

* * *

><p>Erza chuckled lightly at the memory and turned around, heading towards her smiling friends with the news that they were dying to hear, hearing all kinds of compliments and congratulating words while Natsu by the fountain got teased over the situation inside the café.<p>

What a pair of silly love birds, don't you agree?

The next day, Fantasia, was going to be really interesting.

**To be continued.**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: HAHAHAHAHAH! I had such a laugh writing this chapter. *chuckles* Seriously, I wrote it with all my mind focused on romance... and humor too, of course, and this is the final product of it all! Yes~! One more chapter and we will be done with My Candy... not that I'm too eager to finish it, but I suddenly had a revelation about what else to do after it was done... *grins* It is an interesting ideastory, so please be patient with me and wait for this one to finish and for me to gather all of my ideas for the next project.**

**So here we have it: Natsu is finally Natsu, he finally asked her out and more importantly, we finally saw what happened at that time they met when high-school started. *chuckles* How thoughtful of me, but yeah, I can't risk leaving any plot-holes in this story... it is one of the first ones I wrote, so it must be finished correctly, close to perfection! I'll work on the next one as soon as I get some free-time, my friends, be certain of that.**

**Until then, please, read and review! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did!**

**Saludos.**

**PS: Oh yeah... I don't own any of the songs mentioned in this chapter... namely Let There Be Love and Stop Crying Your Heart Out by Oasis, and again, Fashionably Late by Falling In Reverse. Even though I only wrote small parts from those songs, I still have to write this disclaimer thingy, you know, so that the story isn't deleted over something idiotic as not putting it.**


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